Research interests
- Spatial demography
- Population and disease movements in low income settings
- Spatial epidemiology
- Malaria
- The role of global travel networks on the spread of vector-borne diseases
Research projects
The WorldPop Project (www.worldpop.org.uk)
High resolution, contemporary data on human population distributions are a prerequisite for the accurate measurement of the impacts of population growth, for monitoring changes and for planning interventions. The WorldPop project aims to meet these needs through the provision of detailed and open access population distribution datasets built using transparent approaches.
Flowminder (www.flowminder.org)
Flowminder’s mission is to improve public health outcomes by working with NGOs and government agencies in method development, capacity building, and implementation and scaling of processes relating to collecting, aggregating, analysing, and disseminating anonymized mobile phone location data and satellite data. Flowminder is working to establish partnerships with leading agencies, operators, and other stakeholders and help save lives by providing analyses and decision support based on the latest academic advances in the science of human mobility to all relevant parties.
The Vector-Borne Disease Airline Importation Risk Tool (www.vbd-air.com)
The Vector-borne disease airline importation risk (VBD-Air) tool aims to help better define the roles of airports and airlines in the transmission and spread of insect-borne human diseases. It represents a flexible tool that combines multiple geospatial datasets to inform on the relative risks between differing airports, flight routes, times of year, diseases, and their vectors, in promoting the movement of passengers infected by vector-borne diseases and the vectors that spread these diseases.
The Malaria Atlas Project (www.map.ox.ac.uk)
The Malaria Atlas Project brings together researchers based around the world with expertise in a wide range of disciplines from public health to mathematics, geography and epidemiology. We work together to generate new and innovative methods of mapping malaria risk. Ultimately our goal is to produce a comprehensive range of maps and estimates that will support effective planning of malaria control at national and international scales.
PRISM: Program for Resistance, Immunology, Surveillance and Modelling of Malaria in Uganda (http://www.niaid.nih.gov/LabsAndResources/resources/icemr/centers/Pages/uganda.aspx)
The overall goal of the 7-year PRISM will be to perform comprehensive surveillance studies to improve understanding of malaria and measure the impact of population-level control interventions. Studies will be conducted in six sentinel sites, ranging from areas of relatively low transmission intensity to areas with some of the highest transmission intensities recorded in the world. Uganda provides an ideal environment for this program as malaria covers a wide range of epidemiological settings in the country. We hope to use the varied settings to evaluate intervention strategies and assess optimal control methods
High resolution gridded poverty surface development (www.fspmaps.com, www.worldpop.org.uk)
Improved understanding of geographic variation and inequity in health status, wealth, and access to resources within countries is increasingly recognized as central to meeting development goals. Development indicators assessed at national scales can often conceal important inequities, with the rural poor often least well represented. As international funding for health and development comes under pressure, the ability to target limited resources to underserved groups becomes crucial. Here, as part of a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded project, we are pioneering the development of Bayesian geostatistical approaches to producing gridded poverty surfaces from geolocated household survey data.
The development of spatial databases of synthetic populations in malaria endemic regions
The development of geographically explicit epidemiology models that incorporate human movement requires accurate data on human population distributions and compositions in malaria endemic regions, as well as simulations of changes over time. High-income countries generally have extensive mapping resources and expertise at their disposal to create detailed and reliable spatial databases of population distribution. Across the malaria endemic regions of the world however, relevant data are often either lacking, outdated or are of poor quality. This 5-year Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project aims to fill this gap.
Research group
Population, Health and Wellbeing (PHeW)
Research project(s)
Professor Andrew J TatemBuilding 44 University of Southampton University Road Southampton SO17 1BJ
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