NELSON RESEARCH GROUP
Infectious disease epidemiology, tuberculosis, and vaccines
Rollins School of Public Health | Emory University | Atlanta, GA, USA
SEROLOGY AND MOBILITY DATA TO INFORM DISEASE MODELS
Emory MP3 grant
Co-investigators:
Ben Lopman (Emory, Epidemiology)
Ymir Vigfusson (Emory, Computer Science)
Jan Vinjé (CDC)
Azucena (OTHERS)
Patterns of human contact in households, in communities, and across regions determine how infectious diseases spread and modulate the impact of control measures. However, our understanding of how human contact and mobility shape disease risk is limited. Our goal is to develop a new platform that will integrate human contact and mobility data with infection history to build tractable, realistic models of disease transmission. We will demonstrate the range and utility of this platform by modeling (1) geographic variation in rotavirus incidence post-vaccine introduction and (2) social distancing and travel restrictions to reduce spread of SARS-CoV-2.
SOCIAL CONTACT STUDIES
NIH- and CDC-funded
Investigators:
Saad Omer (Yale Institute for Global Health)
Ben Lopman (Emory, Epidemiology)
Sam Jenness (Emory, Epidemiology)
Azucena Bardaji (ISGlobal)
Charfudin Sacoor (CISM, Mozambique)
Herberth Maldonado Briones (Universidad del Valle de Guatemala)
Momin Kazi (Aga Khan University, Pakistan)
Venkat Raghava (CMC Vellore, India)
Disease models inform public health policy and funding priorities for health organizations globally. Data on social contact patterns are a critical input to disease models, because these interactions determine who acquires infection from whom. Incorporating realistic data on these interactions into models can allow us to more accurately simulate disease transmission. The HERMES initiative currently includes two studies that are collecting these data from workplace settings in the U.S. (CorporateMix) and urban and rural locations in six low- and middle-income countries (GlobalMix).