Modelling NPIs to Evaluate Past Policy Strategies for Effectiveness

Project Overview

Viral evolution can undermine the positive benefits of public health, therapeutic and vaccine interventions during a pandemic/epidemic. In this project we will develop models of virus evolution in-host, and extend our mathematical analysis to virus transmission bottlenecks, to determine probabilities of mutant virus transmission.

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

What is this Project’s Impact on the Emerging Infectious Disease Modelling (EIDM) Initiative?

This project considers the presence of the virus on environmental surfaces. The novelty of the work lies in its 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 the investigation of the influence of environmental conditions. This adaptable approach can be readily applied to address emerging infectious diseases (EIDs).

Implementation of the One Health Approach

The One Health approach has been pivotal to our research via interactions with researchers on other themes, although no direct implementation was involved.

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

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