Disease Ecology Meeting Event

This talk will be led by Dr Nick Ruktanonchai, Research Fellow in Geography and Environment, whose work involves mathematical and simulation modelling of malaria in Namibia. Human mobility is an important driver of parasite movement, particularly across long distances. People vary greatly in personal movement patterns, however, and these complexities can influence which areas are the ultimate sources of parasites across a landscape. Using call data records from mobile phones in Namibia, we quantify transmission rates in the context of human mobility and predict parasite spread across the country. By quantifying parasite movement flows out of particular patches, we hope to inform the areas that should be targeted for surveillance and control efforts.

These meetings are intended for everyone with an interest in disease ecology, spatial epidemiology and the types of spatial analysis and modelling methods that may be used in this field. There will also be a lot of relevance in some of our meetings for researchers in similar fields (e.g. species distribution modelling, health geography). All are welcome to join us – it’s a great opportunity to get together and discuss on-going research, methods, conferences, publications and more in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Feel free to bring your lunch.

Further details about this talk and other in the series can be found here .