Theme 4: Intervention and Control
Co-Project Investigator
- Hao Wang, University of Alberta
- James Watmough, University of New Brunswick
- Jude Kong, York University
- Pouria Ramazi, Brock University
- Lin Wang, University of New Brunswick
Project Overview
Viral evolution can undermine the positive benefits of public health and therapeutic and vaccine interventions during a pandemic/epidemic. In this project, the team will develop models of virus evolution in-host and extend our mathematical analysis to virus transmission bottlenecks to determine probabilities of mutant virus transmission. The work will be used to determine (1) initial probabilities of zoonotic transmission, with differences in fitness between host species (i.e., bats and humans for COVID-19), and (2) the development and transmission of new viral variants in humans. This work aligns with Themes 2, 3, and 4 in various ways. Specifically, we will quantify probabilities of virus evolution and transmission in-host and between hosts, given host heterogeneities in infection and immune system characteristics, and different characteristics of virus mutants that increase virus’ fitness’ (i.e., virus production in-host: immune escape, virus budding, increased infectivity). This project’s primary focus remains on modelling the impact of environmental conditions, including weather patterns and the ratio of water coverage, on the dynamics of vector-borne infectious diseases. These fundamental aspects of our research have remained consistent throughout the research period.
Impact on Emerging Infectious Disease Modelling Initiative (EIDM)?
This project considers the presence of the virus on environmental surfaces in our research. The novelty of our work lies in our ability to model how atmospheric conditions affect the virus’s survival on these surfaces. Our model offers a more comprehensive understanding of both direct and indirect virus transmission and allows us to investigate the influence of environmental conditions. This adaptable approach can be readily applied to address emerging infectious diseases (EIDs).
Focus Areas and Research Achievements
Our primary focus remains on modelling the impact of environmental conditions, including weather patterns and the ratio of water coverage, on the dynamics of vector-borne infectious diseases. These fundamental aspects of our research have remained consistent throughout the research period.
Dr. Hao Wang, University of Alberta
One Health Approach Integration
One health approach has been pivotal to our research via interactions with researchers in other themes, although no direct implementation was involved.
Research Team and Collaborators
- Hao Wang, University of Alberta
- James Watmough, University of New Brunswick
- Jude Kong, York University
- Pouria Ramazi, Brock University
- Lin Wang, University of New Brunswick
Highly Qualified Personnels (HQPs)
- Juping Ji, University of Alberta
- Shohel Ahmed, University of Alberta