Prediction, control of H1N1 topic of next Scientia lecture Oct. 27

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

Public health agencies across the globe are working to mitigate the impact of the H1N1 pandemic, and they’re turning to computational models for help. This will be the topic of the next Scientia lecture, “Using Network Models to Predict and Control 2009 (H1N1) Pandemic Influenza” by Lauren Ancel Meyers, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin.

	LAUREN ANCEL MEYERS

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be at 4 p.m. Oct. 27 in McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall. A reception will be held after the talk.

Prior to the development of an effective flu vaccine, the primary modes of controlling the virus’s spread included careful surveillance, social distancing and hygiene measures, strategic school closures, other community measures and the prudent use of antiviral medications to prevent infection or reduce the severity and duration of symptoms. When medical resources are limited or measures are costly, successful disease control hinges on rapid and reliable determination of when, where and how to implement such measures to most effectively reduce the burden of disease. In this talk, Meyers will describe how network models of influenza transmission are being used to improve the understanding of this new virus and support public health decision-making.

Using a combination of mathematical modeling and experiments, Meyers conducts research at the interface of evolutionary biology and epidemiology. She studies the interplay between disease transmission dynamics and the evolution of pathogens, including those responsible for epidemic meningitis, influenza, walking pneumonia and SARS. Based on this research, the MIT Technology Review named Meyers as one of the top 100 global innovators under age 35.

The theme of this year’s Scientia lecture series is networks; lectures will consider not only the ways in which networks are changing people’s lives, but also how insights into the operation and architecture of networks may generate solutions to a wide variety of problems.

Scientia is an institute of Rice University faculty founded in 1981 by the mathematician and historian of science Salomon Bochner. Scientia provides an opportunity for scholarly discussion across disciplinary boundaries; its members and fellows come from a wide range of academic disciplines.

For more information, visit http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~scientia/.