Hot in Switzerland!

Photo courtesy of Elissa Giang

Mathepilab member Elissa Giang sweated it out in Bern during Switzerland’s record-breaking heat wave last month! Elissa was in Bern to attend the 17th International Conference on Production Diseases in Farm Animals, where she gave an oral presentation of her research findings focusing on production-limiting diseases in swine and the use of mathematical models to simulate management-driven control strategies for reducing disease burden in the nursery.

It’s hard to feel sorry for her though…look at that view!

Photo courtesy of Elissa Giang

Photo courtesy of Elissa Giang

And that beach!

Sharing our research activities with colleagues at CAVEPM.

Earlier in the spring, the Canadian Veterinary Epidemiology community gathered in Saint-Hyacinthe, QC for the annual conference of the Canadian Association for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (CAVEPM). This year our group contributed five oral presentations (Wendy Xie, Elissa Giang, Roksolona Hovdey, Salah Uddin Kahn, Dylan Melmer). We also learned about navigating our way through information overload in the era of big data.

Photo courtesy of Amy Greer

Salah discussing his work navigating an overwhelming amount of climate data to project the ecological niche of two different types of mosquitoes in Canada and the US.

Roxy presenting the results from her mathematical modeling study assessing the impact of person-to-person transmission during an outbreak of Verotoxin-producing E. coli.

Photo courtesy of Amy Greer

We are looking for a new PhD student with an interest in horses!

PhD student  - Equine Network Epidemiology and Biosecurity (ENEBT)  Team 

The Mathematical Epidemiology Laboratory, University of Guelph

Application Deadline: June 30, 2019

 Applications are invited for a PhD position in veterinary epidemiology and mathematical modeling in the Mathematical Epidemiology Laboratory (www.mathepilab.org) at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. The successful applicant will be involved in a research program that will apply quantitative methods to the area of equine infection control and biosecurity. The project will be co-supervised by Dr. Amy Greer and Dr. Terri O’Sullivan who co-lead the ENEB team at the Ontario Veterinary College. 

Applicants should have significant experience in veterinary medicine, epidemiology, and/or population health. The successful candidate will have excellent English language communication skills (both verbal and written), strong analytical skills, and experience conducting research in a highly interdisciplinary environment. Prior experience with R and working with horses and/or horse owners would be considered an asset. Preference will be given to applicants who also hold a DVM degree and who have experience working with veterinary professionals in a research environment. 

The starting date is September 2019 (contingent on funding), or as soon as possible thereafter.All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Incomplete applications will not be considered and only selected applicants will be contacted for an interview.

 How to apply:

Applicants should first review the Graduate Studies website to ensure that they meet the requirements for admission to our graduate program (https://www.uoguelph.ca/graduatestudies/).  Applicants must submit a cover letter that specifically addresses the applicants interest in equine epidemiology and biosecurity, a recent curriculum vitae, and a copy of their academic transcript (unofficial is fine). Applicants should also submit contact information for at least two individuals who can provide letters of recommendation to Dr. Amy Greer.

 

Nous sommes au Québec cette semaine!

Photo courtesy of Wendy Xie

Here we are in lovely Sainte-Hyacinthe, QC for the 2019 Conference of the Canadian Association of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (CAVEPM).  We are learning about navigating science information overload in the era of big data. We are also presenting some of the work being done by our very own mathepilab members!

Elissa is going to Switzerland!

Congratulations to mathepilab member Elissa Giang for winning a Food from Thought Travel Award! Elissa will use the award to attend the 17th International Conference on Production Diseases in Farm Animals in Bern, Switzerland, where she will give an oral presentation of her research findings and promote knowledge mobilization for the Food from Thought research program. Elissa’s MSc work focuses on production-limiting diseases in swine (Streptococcus suis disease) and the use of mathematical models to simulate management-driven control strategies for reducing disease burden in the nursery. In light of recent changes made by Health Canada regarding the provision of medically important antibiotics in animals, the model will help to enable producers to consider management-driven interventions as alternative forms of disease control while also minimizing the use of antimicrobials. Well done Elissa!

Congratulations to math.epi.lab member Wendy Xie!

Congratulations to Wendy for the successful completion of her PhD candidacy exams! Well done Wendy, we are proud of you!

Photo courtesy of Wendy Xie

Fall is the most wonderful time of year!

Members of the math.epi.lab at the end of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonosis Annual Research Symposium in June 2018. From left to right: Elissa Giang, Dr. Amy Greer, Melanie Cousins, Emma Gardner, Wendy Xie, and Roksolana Hovdey. 

With fall comes the start (continuation?) of the academic travel season. Are you wondering where you might find members of the math.epi.lab this fall? We will be presenting our most recent research findings in Canada, the US, and Thailand so we will be "in transit" quite a bit this fall. Be sure to catch up with us if you are planning to attend any of the following conferences and events.

1) 2018 Calgary International Equine Symposium (Sept 2018)

2) Pandemic Influenza Outbreak Research Modelling (Pan-Inform) meeting (Oct 2018)

3) 15th International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics: ISVEE15 (Nov 2018)

4) Conference for Research Workers in Animal Diseases (Dec 2018)

New paper out from Luz Kisiel on dog population control

Photo credit: Luz Maria Kisiel

Congratulations to Luz and team on the publication of her second MSc thesis research paper. This is a great example of how models can be used to model dog population dynamics and then use the model to look at different surgical and non-surgical population control interventions. Spoiler alert: if you are running a surgical dog population control program and have limited resources the model suggests that changing your focus to young, female dogs exclusively is more effective in the long run than focusing on mixed groups of dogs. You can read more here. 

Photo credit: Luz Maria Kisiel