Modelling or visualising the dynamics of viral spread

Deforestation, agricultural intensification, and coastline destruction have well known consequences for ecology and climate. Less discussed is the resulting impacts of this environmental change on the threat of infectious disease spillover. As animal habitats are destroyed and a narrower range of habitats for humans and other mammals becomes available, it is likely that contact between human and animals will increase. My research hypothesizes that this increased contact could facilitate spillover by overcoming previous molecular and environmental barriers. There are two possible avenues of further work in this area:

1. Identify high threat species and interfaces for spillover

Utilizing influenza sequences in areas of recent environmental change, you will model the dynamics of viral spread through space and time and identify viral mutations or ecological interfaces which could be at risk for spillover. This project will feed directly into experiments in the lab and can be used to direct further research.

2. Design an interactive tool to visualize the effects of environmental change on human-animal contact

How does increasing temperature and precipitation increase the rates of human-animal contact? You will use and update previously published geospatial models of human-animal contact to integrate into an interactive user-friendly interface. The interface will integrate the models and be useful to show the effects of environmental change on spillover risk.

Hannah Klim is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Imperial College London in Virology. Hannah completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford in Clinical Medicine in 2024, where she studied immunology, epidemiology, and geostatistics. She was recently awarded an Imperial College Research Fellowship to pursue her own independent research on the causes of viral spillover with a view to improving pandemic prevention.

Relevant background reading:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00923-8

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53058-y

Ideal candidate:

Previous coding experience (particularly R or Python); interested in infection biology, ecology, or climate science; excited to work independently to drivea project forward! Experience or interest in using GIS is desirable.

Hannah’s Background

Hannah Klim is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Imperial College London in Virology. Hannah completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford in Clinical Medicine in 2024, where she studied immunology, epidemiology, and geostatistics. She was recently awarded an Imperial College Research Fellowship to pursue her own independent research on the causes of viral spillover with a view to improving pandemic prevention.