AMMCS-2013 Semi-Plenary Talk

Ecological and Epidemiological Drivers of Viral Evolution

Eili Klein (John Hopkins University)

Abstract: While it has long-been recognized that disease transmission is impacted by human behavior, the consequences of human behavior on the ecology of directly transmitted pathogens has been understudied. Using a biophysical model of virus stability, we examine how much of virus evolution is driven by epidemiological factors, such as contact rates and protective behavior, and how much is driven by biological characteristics of the virus, such as its growth rate. We use agent-based models, which scale from local to planetary to elucidate the driving factors for both endemic and epidemic directly transmitted viruses.

Dr. Eili Klein is an assistant professor at John Hopkins University in the Centre for Advanced modeling in the Social, Behavioural and Health Sciences; Dr. Klein also holds a fellow position at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, in Washington, D.C. He received his PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton University and has held research associate positions at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy and Resources for the Future.

Dr. Klein's interdisciplinary research involves ecology, epidemiology, economics, and human behaviour. His scientific interests include: factors that drive antimicrobial drug resistance; economic epidemiology; how human behaviour influences ecology/epidemiological dynamics; and how human behaviour influences evolution of an infectious disease.