NIMBioS Seminar Series
In conjunction with the interdisciplinary activities of the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), a seminar series on topics in mathematical biology will be hosted at NIMBioS every other Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) in the Hallam Auditorium, Room 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd. Seminar speakers will focus on their research initiatives at the interface of mathematics and many areas of the life sciences. Light refreshments will be served in Room 205 beginning 30 minutes before each talk. Faculty and students from across the UT community are welcome to join us.
Watch seminar online.
This seminar was streamed live and archived for later viewing on NIMBIoS' YouTube channel.
Speaker: Dr. Olivia Prosper , Mathematics, Univ. of Kentucky
Time/Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 3:30 p.m.*
Location: Room 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd.
Topic: Spatial heterogeneity, host movement, and the transmission of mosquito-borne disease
Abstract:
The Ross-Macdonald framework, a suite of mathematical models for the transmission of mosquito-borne disease, made numerous simplifying assumptions including that transmission occurs in a homogeneous environment. Despite these assumptions, this modeling framework has been invaluable to the study of vector-borne disease and to informing public health policy. In recent years, more attention has been paid to the role of human movement in regions with spatially heterogeneous disease transmission. In this talk, I will introduce metapopulation frameworks for vector-borne disease, based on the Ross-Macdonald model, in which human movement connects discrete populations with different levels of malaria transmission. I will discuss properties of this model, compare these properties to the homogeneous case, and will discuss the implications for malaria control. Finally, I will present an approach for identifying the appropriate network structure for the metapopulation model, using either mobile phone or geographical data.
Dr. Olivia Prosper is an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Kentucky. She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics in 2012 from the University of Florida under the mentorship of Maia Martcheva. From 2009 through 2011, Prosper was an NSF IGERT Fellow. From 2012 to 2015, she was Instructor in Applied and Computational Mathematics, a teaching and research postdoctoral position, at Dartmouth College. Her current research interests include improving our understanding of how spatial heterogeneity in transmission and competition between pathogens influences the emergent dynamics and metrics of disease systems, particularly vector-borne disease.
*Join us for refreshments at 3 p.m.
Seminar Flyer (pdf)
For more information about this and other NIMBioS Seminars, visit /seminars.
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University of Tennessee
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TN 37996-3410
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FAX: (865) 974-9461
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