![Interconnecting Global Threats: Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss, and Infectious Diseases](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/planetary_health_slider4-470x140.png)
Climate change, biodiversity loss, and the spread of infectious diseases are three major challenges for planetary health. We know from major reports such as the…
![A data-driven semi-parametric model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the United States](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/pompv1_wordpress-1-470x140.jpg)
As infectious disease modelers, one of the greatest challenges we face is in accurately reflecting the complexities of transmission, particularly human behavior. Important factors we…
![Disasters collide at the intersection of extreme weather and infectious diseases](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/disasters-web-01-470x140.png)
Natural disasters like hurricanes, droughts, and floods are becoming increasingly frequent and severe as a result of global climate change and human activities. Perhaps more…
![Anticipating epidemic transitions in metapopulations with multivariate spectral similarity](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ghadami-wp-slide-470x140.jpg)
The control and prediction of emerging pathogens are major challenges for the health and safety of the public, as they are among the most unpredictable…
![OutbreakTrees: an Open-access database of infectious disease transmission trees](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/outbreaktrees-slider-470x140.jpg)
Transmission trees describe who infected whom during outbreaks of infectious diseases (see example tree below). These data are routinely collected through resource intensive methods including…
![Environmental Predictors of Schistosomiasis Persistent Hotspots following Mass Treatment with Praziquantel](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Schistosomiasis2933-750x380-1-470x140.png)
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease that impairs the physical and cognitive development of more than 200 million individuals globally, as a result of physiological disruptions…
![Disentangling reporting and disease transmission](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/disentangle-reporting-feature-02-470x140.png)
Second order statistics such as variance and autocorrelation can in principle provide early warning of disease (re-)emergence. Such statistics can detect the approach to an…
![The statistics of epidemic transitions](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/epidemic-transitions-feature_drakelab_new-470x140.png)
The prevalence of a pathogen emerging in a population varies in a complex manner that is difficult to model and predict, due in part to…
![Transmissibility of emerging viral zoonoses](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/walker_news_pic_rescale-470x140.jpg)
Effective public health efforts require an accurate understanding of which virus species are capable of spreading between humans or may develop this ability in the…
![Oocysts of the genus Eimeria, a group of protozoans that infect a wide range of animal species](http://daphnia.ecology.uga.edu/drakelab/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Eimeria-maxima-470x140.png)
Host-parasite networks are built from a vast number of interactions, which may change seasonally or based on host densities. This combination of complexity and uncertainty…