The strong relationship between epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 jeopardizes out capacity to forecast and control the current on-going pandemics. Studying the specific case of Mexico (which is one of the most affected country in the world especially regarding the high prevalence of co-morbidity factors), the overall objectives of this project are (i) to quantify the cross-immunity between SARS-COV-2 lineages and the protection level of each the five vaccines employed in the country against each linage, (ii) forecasting the competition outcomes between lineages and its potential epidemiological consequences and (iii) identifying how competition between lineages may yield to some evolutionary adaptations. These different steps will be performed in the context of Mexico City, and will be tested on an independent dataset from San Luis Potosí, a medium-size city in Central Mexico.

Through a strong collaboration with the Biotechnology Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (IBT-UNAM), the post-doctoral fellow will have to develop innovative mechanistic models that combines transmission dynamics and viral evolution and fit them to the epidemiological and phylodynamics observed on the field. This model can also serve to Mexican authorities for decision-making purposes.

The profile we are looking for is a senior post-doc with experience in mathematical epidemiology and phylodynamics analysis. The post-doctoral fellow will be based in Montpellier (South of France) and will be co-supervised by Benjamin Roche (IRD, Montpellier) and Simon Cauchemez (Institut Pasteur, Paris).