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| About Fogarty |
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Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies (DIEPS)The Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies (DIEPS) conducts research in epidemiology and mathematical modeling of infectious diseases. Primary concentrations include cross-national studies of mortality patterns with special emphasis on influenza-associated disease, vector-borne and vaccine-preventable diseases. Research and Policy for Infectious Disease Dynamics (RAPIDD)DIEPS and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, through the National Science and Technology Council, recently began a collaborative program, Research and Policy for Infectious Disease Dynamics (RAPIDD). Over the next several years RAPIDD will encompass an extensive series of conferences, seminars, working groups and postdoctoral fellowships designed to address critical challenges in the mathematical modeling of infectious diseases. The premise of the program is that infectious-disease modeling is a vibrant and rapidly-growing field, but many subfields are still in their infancies, and major developments--in research, training and links with policy--will be required to optimize outbreak control. It is not yet understood what models and modeling approaches will be needed for adequate operational capacity, how the necessary models can be related to each other and to data of various quality and scale, or how actual needs of decision-makers can be characterized and addressed. Similarly, the development of scientifically sound modeling for forecasting and analysis, aligned with the needs of U.S. Government decision makers, will require the resolution of a number of important cross-cutting scientific questions, in a more than ad hoc manner. Activities during the first year of RAPIDD operations will focus on 1) characteristics that make a zoonosis "good" or "bad" for modeling their dynamics and control, and 2) "hierarchies" of models and their validation against epidemiological data. The Multinational Influenza Seasonal Mortality Study (MISMS)The MISMS is an international collaborative effort to analyze national and global mortality patterns associated with influenza virus circulation. Its four specific aims are to describe synchrony in seasonal variations of various causes of mortality associated with influenza mortality patterns, both within and amongst countries, and their association with changes in circulating subtypes of influenza virus, antigenic characteristics, population factors, and vaccine coverage; to explore the seasonal patterns and burden of influenza mortality in tropical countries, and understand the global circulation of influenza viruses - to achieve this goal, new methods for estimating mortality impact in tropical countries need to be developed; and, to develop a world map of influenza mortality burden and seasonal patterns. DIEPS Publications  Photo: WHO Director: Mark Miller, M.D. Staff ScientistCecile Viboud, Ph.D. Research FellowWladimir Alonso, Ph.D. Senior Research FellowOttar Bjornstad, Ph.D. Postdoctoral ResearcherHelene Broutin-de-Magny Ph.D. Postdoctoral FellowMichael Levy, Ph.D. Research Associate
Research AssistantStephanie Psaki, M.H.S. Guest ResearcherRakesh Aggarwal, M.D. RAPIDD Program FellowShweta Bansal, Ph.D. Alumni
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