Stephen Kissler

  • Assistant Professor
  • COMPUTER SCIENCE
Stephen Kissler

Research interests

Pandemic preparedness and response

Our research group builds mathematical disease transmission models to analyze historical outbreaks and anticipate future threats. We build capacity for integrating novel data streams, like proximity sensing data from mobile phones, into outbreak surveillance and response platforms using robust, privacy-preserving approaches. We develop digital tools to guide optimal surveillance strategies when resources (e.g., testing and sequencing) must be shared across pathogens, and we seek to improve epidemic forecasts by critically evaluating the competitive dynamics of outbreak forecasting hubs.

Respiratory viral kinetics

The kinetics of viral abundance during acute respiratory infections can dictate the timing and level of a person’s contagiousness. We build statistical frameworks for extracting key features from quantitative viral abundance data (e.g., from serially administered quantitative PCR tests) and integrate these into mathematical models of disease transmission. We also build protocols for optimal viral kinetic study design.

Cross-sector impacts of epidemics

Epidemics can have far-reaching ramifications beyond the public health sphere. We develop models to assess how outbreaks may impact the food system by causing illness among essential workers, and we are designing strategies for enhanced surveillance and response to protect the food system during future outbreaks. We work closely with economists to incorporate human behavior into epidemiological models and to guide policy responses that are informed by notions of well-being that extend beyond disease-related morbidity and mortality.

 

Select publications

 

Select awards

  • NOMIS & Science Young Explorer Award
  • Barry R. and Irene Tilenius Bloom Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Gates Cambridge Scholarship