During the emergence of COVID-19, mathematical models became important tools to support health decision making, with the impact of different interventions and control strategies being assessed by these models. A proliferation of compartmental models was observed in the mathematical modelling community, aiming to understand and make predictions regarding the spread of COVID-19. Such an approach has its own advantages and challenges: while compartmental models are suitable to simulate large populations, the underlying well-mixing assumptions might be problematic, for instance, when considering non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) which strongly affect individual behaviour. Furthermore, when using models to simulate such complex dynamical systems, participatory approaches and effective communication are another key challenge to ensure their impact in evidence-based decisions.
In this seminar, Caroline will talk about some of the models they developed as part of the international pandemic response, the lessons from their use in different settings and next steps towards pandemic preparedness and evidence-based decision making.
- Speaker
- Dr Caroline Franco
- Venue
- 115, Health Sciences Building and TEAMS
- Contact
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Please email achds@abdn.ac.uk if you would like the TEAMS link to join remotely.