Applications are invited for a PhD studentship on mathematical models to inform decision making during infectious disease outbreaks. The student will be supervised by Dr Sebastian Funk, Dr Flavio Finger and Dr Sam Clifford and will join a highly successful and supportive group at the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of infectious diseases (CMMID) with a cohort of PhD students.

This project aims to find optimal vaccination strategies in cholera outbreaks using a combination of mathematical modelling and data analysis. Challenges for optimal vaccination strategies include limited vaccine availability, programmatic considerations and spatial and social heterogeneity of host susceptibility which changes during the course of the outbreak. The successful candidate will develop transmission dynamic models to describe historical outbreaks of cholera, with a view to applying them in real time. This will provide the opportunity to valuate outbreak vaccination strategies within the models and to address pragmatic public health questions is various settings: Is it generally best to focus on areas where transmission is most intense, or to employ a ring-vaccination strategy? Are the other means for prioritisation that would make for good targeted strategies?

Applicants are encouraged to get in touch informally ahead of applying. For this, or for any other questions, please contact Sebastian Funk.