Postdoc: Mathematical Modeling of Dengue Virus Epidemiology PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The incumbent will work on an NIH-funded project that will build, test and refine stochastic, spatially explicit, simulation models that link insect population dynamics and genetics with human disease epidemiology. We aim to develop a city-scale model for the transmission of dengue virus, utilizing rich entomological, epidemiological and human movement data sets from a research collaboration focused in Iquitos, Peru. A major goal of the work is to predict the impacts of various interventions (such as conventional mosquito control, vaccines, and novel transgenic mosquito management methods) on dengue. The culmination of the project will be the execution of a large-scale mosquito control study and a comparison between observed and model-predicted dynamics.
Our major new modeling efforts will be to develop the epidemiological component of our model and to increase the spatial scale of our mosquito population dynamics/genetics models. We are also interested in building simple spatial and non-spatial, deterministic models as heuristic tools for better understanding basic principles, but we are not looking for applicants who are only interested in working with simple, generic models. An important part of our project involves field experiments to acquire data that will inform the structure and parameterization of the models, and a large-scale mosquito control study to provide data against which model predictions will be tested. This position could involve analysis of these and other data, so statistical experience, particularly involving parameter estimation and/or uncertainty quantification, would be beneficial. The person in this position will have the opportunity to travel to Peru and assist in design of field experiments. Some hands on field-work is also possible. The funding for this postdoctoral position is through an NIH research grant. However, our group also has an NSF-IGERT graduate training grant titled “Genetic Engineering and Society: The case of transgenic pests”. Six students in the first IGERT cohort are focusing on mosquitoes and dengue. The person in this postdoctoral position will have the opportunity to work with the students and faculty involved in the IGERT program. (Seehttp://geneticengsoc.ncsu.edu/ ) Qualifications: Training in ecological or epidemiological modeling and experience with development of computer simulation models. Experience in C++ would be highly desirable, as would be statistical skills. To apply: email a cover letter and CV to [email protected] and [email protected] For more details on the project see the following publications: Magori, K., M. Legros, M. Puente, D. A. Focks, T. W. Scott, A. Lloyd, F, Gould. 2009. Skeeter Buster: a stochastic, spatially-explicit modeling tool for studying Aedes aegypti population replacement and population suppression strategies. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 3(9): e508. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000508 Xu, C., Legros, M., Gould, F, Lloyd, A. L. 2010.Understanding Uncertainties in Model-Based Predictions of Aedes aegypti Population Dynamics. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis. 4(9): e830. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000830 Legros, M., Magori, K., Morrison, A.C., Xu, C., Scott, T.W., Lloyd, A.L., Gould, F. 2011. Evaluation of location-specific predictions by a detailed simulation model of Aedes aegypti populations. PLoS ONE 6(7), e22701. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022701 Gould, F., K. Magori, Y. X. Huang 2006 Genetic strategies for controlling mosquito-borne diseases. American Scientist. 94 (3): 238-246.
