We take a highly interdisciplinary approach to the study of infectious disease that combines mathematical and statistical modelling with ecology, evolutionary biology, parasitology, immunology and bioinformatics and the social sciences.

OVERVIEW

The School of Biodiversity, One Health, and Veterinary Medicine has considerable strengths in epidemiology, particularly in the areas of quantitative modelling, genetic analysis, surveillance, immunology and vaccinology, antimicrobial resistance, vector ecology and one-health approaches to disease management. Much of our focus is on endemic and 'neglected' diseases, pathogens of veterinary importance, zoonoses, and studying the biology of these pathogens in their natural context, particularly in developing countries.

We take a highly interdisciplinary approach to the study of infectious diseases, recognising that epidemiology is very much the ecology of infectious diseases, and thereby benefiting greatly from overlap with strengths in spatial and quantitative ecology. Our modelling is developed in close proximity to data, and focused on estimation of parameters relevant to dynamics and control using innovative statistical methodologies. The advent of new sequencing technologies will revolutionise the way we study epidemiology, particularly regarding processes that influence disease transmission, which is usually a very 'hidden' process.

Individual research projects are tailored around the expertise of principal investigators within the Institutes. A variety of approaches are used, including ecology, epidemiology, mathematical, computational and statistical modelling, bioinformatics, parasitology, immunology and polyomics (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics). Basic and applied science projects are available for study, as are field-based projects with research programs underway in both the UK and overseas. Specific areas of interest include:

infectious disease dynamics in wild and domestic animal populations

wildlife diseases and conservation

network analysis of disease spread

phylodynamics

model-based statistical inference using Bayesian approaches

vector biology, ecology and control

life-history trade-offs and the sustainable control of malaria

vaccine development

quantitative approaches to vaccine selection

host-parasite interactions and immunogenetics

wild immunology

molecular ecology and evolution

zoonoses and neglected tropical diseases and the science of intervention

ecosystem and One Health

social and ecological impacts of disease

game theory and the design of disease control programs

antibiotic and anthelminthic resistance

design of vaccination programs

within-host pathogen dynamics

evolutionary game theory

theory of diversity measurement and its application

ecology and evolution of emerging infectious diseases

ecology of multi-host pathogens

ecology and evolution of vector-borne pathogens

environmental drivers of pathogen spread

micro and macro-parasitic infections