Jake completed his PhD in the Department of Epidemiology at UF in 2018, where he was funded by a Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship from the US Department of Defense. Now that he has completed his PhD, Jake works as a civilian epidemiologist for Army Public Health Center in the Clinical Public Health & Epidemiology Portfolio, focusing on infectious disease surveillance and control efforts in military populations. Jake’s interests are in using models to provide decision support tools for clinicians and public health policymakers.

jball2@ufl.edu

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Rebecca is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Biology investigating spatial surveillance systems. She recently completed her PhD in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Florida, where she studied seasonal dynamics of rabies virus in wild carnivore populations. In collaboration with researchers at the CDC and USDA, Rebecca investigated spatiotemporal trends in rabies case data for raccoons, skunks and foxes, in the northeast US, using mechanistic seasonal models and time-series analysis. She also used stochastic spatial processes to investigate the influence of changes in resource landscape for potential spread of disease among consumers. Rebecca serves as junior faculty member for the International Clinics on Infectious Disease Data (ICI3D) Program.

rborchering@ufl.edu

Profiles

• Google Scholar Page
• ICI3D Program

Brooke was a lab manager of the UF Infectious Disease Dynamics group. She is currently a third-year medical student at VCOM, Carolinas and an Ensign in the US Navy. She received her Master of Science from Georgetown University in Biohazardous Threat Agents and Emerging Infectious Diseases. Prior to her graduate study, Brooke worked as a Clinical Research Assistant in oncology clinical trials at the Miami Cancer Institute. Brooke received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida in 2015 and completed an honors thesis analyzing host competence in Japanese encephalitis virus. Altogether, her professional interests remain in improving global health and policy through an understanding of infectious disease dynamics.

bab@ufl.edu

Stephanie completed her PhD in Zoology in 2018, during which research interests included how perturbations to communities of animal reservoirs for human disease via anthropogenic factors and vector interactions affect the risk of zoonotic spillover. Her dissertation included piloting a field study in Bangladesh that investigated the role of hosts in the transmission of Japanese encephalitis virus, what is – and is not – known about subclinical Ebola virus infections, and the environmental factors associated with Everglades virus circulation. Her previous work has included a range of bacterial tick-borne related disease topics focused on rodent and bat populations in the western United States. She has a BS in Biology from University of Arkansas and a MS in Biology from Northern Arizona University.

scinkovich@ufl.edu

Profiles

• Personal Website

Nayeem is a Research Specialist in the Department of Biology, with an interest in exploring antigenic variation amongst dengue viruses. He received his Masters in Medical Sciences from the University of South Florida. Nayeem received his Bachelors of Science in Bioengineering from the University of Maryland – College Park. At his job site at the National Institutes of Health, Nayeem runs plaque neutralization assays on a multitude of dengue virus strains under the direction of Dr. Cummings, Dr. Katzelnick, and Dr. Whitehead.

Ana was a Senior Research Specialist and consultant for the UF Infectious Disease Dynamics lab working on the characterization of antigenic differences in dengue viruses at NIH. She then was the Biologist and Lab Manager for the Viral Epidemiology and Immunity Unit at NIH, working on the immunology and epidemiology of emerging and reemerging viruses with the goal of informing how vaccines can be effectively and safely licensed. She obtained her Bachelors degree in Cell Biology and Genetics and is now starting a position as a Scientist and Lab Manager at Astrazeneca in the immunology department.

ana.coello.escoto@gmail.com

Kyra was a research assistant in the UF Infectious Disease Dynamics lab. Her interests include modeling fine-scale spatial and temporal transmission of several pathogens, including influenza and dengue, as well as assessing the effectiveness of intervention strategies through both theoretical and field-based research. She is now a PhD student in Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

kgrantz@ujhu.edu

Profiles

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Angkana T. Huang, aka Hat, is a Research Associate at Pathogen Dynamics Group, University of Cambridge and an affiliate of the UF Infectious Disease Dynamics Lab. She leverages her multidiscipline experiences (undergraduate degree in Industrial Design from Chulalongkorn University, a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Mahidol University, a PhD in Biology from University of Florida, and was a Data Analyst and Bioinformatics Technologist at Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences) to understand factors that shape transmission of infectious pathogens, focusing on ones that disproportionately affects under-resourced populations, and to develop suitable means to combat public health threats in these settings. At population scales, she studies how changes in demography and societal interactions impact the ecology and evolution of pathogens. At molecular scales, she works to uncover molecular mechanisms responsible for phenotypic differences between closely related strains. In addition to advancing knowledge through complex mathematical models, she also works to expand capabilities of local communities to improve their self-sufficiency in addressing challenges of their own interest.

a.huang@ufl.edu

Profiles

• AFRIMS Virology

Dr. Leah Katzelnick pursued a Ph.D. studying antigenic variation among dengue viruses at the University of Cambridge and the National Institutes of Health as an NIH OxCam Scholar and Gates Cambridge Scholar. After receiving her Ph.D. in 2016, she conducted her postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley and University of Florida on determinants of dengue and Zika disease, spending a year in Ecuador and Nicaragua to work closely with research teams conducting longitudinal cohort studies. In September of 2020, Leah became an Earl Stadtman tenure-track investigator and NIH Distinguished Scholar in the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases in NIAID. She is Chief of the Viral Epidemiology and Immunity Unit.

leah.katzelnick@nih.gov

Greg is a fourth year undergraduate student studying political science on the pre-med track with minors in zoology and health disparities in society. His current research focuses on dengue and Zika transmission and interactions in Latin America and the Caribbean.

gdking23@ufl.edu

Alexander is from Minsk, Belarus and received his undergraduate degree in mathematics (2006) from Belarusian State University followed by his master’s degree in statistics (2011) and Ph.D. in biostatistics (2015) both from the University of Florida. Alexander’s was a postdoctoral associate under the supervision of Dr. Derek Cummings in 2017-2019. Currently Alexander Kirpich is an assistant professor at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University.

akirpich@gsu.edu

Silvio is a resident physician in Fort Worth Texas. At the University of Florida, he studied Public Health with a minor in Statistics on the Pre-Med track. He became interested in infectious disease research after studying abroad in Cusco and learning about epidemiology through Dr. Hladish. Silvio is currently working on an independent research project alongside Dr. Hladish funded by the University Scholars Program. He is analyzing dengue transmission and identifying possible risk factors for health inequalities in rural and urban areas of Yucatan, Mexico. His research interests are in applying quantitative methods to analyzing environmental and social factors leading to health disparities, and improving healthcare policy and delivery addressing diverse populations and neglected disease populations (e.g. Sickle Cell patients).

silviodaniel3@gmail.com

Carlos Moreno is a third year undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry, and Applied Physiology and Kinesiology. Carlos joined the lab in January 2016. He currently works on analyzing the small-scale transmission dynamics of dengue virus in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, by using a spatiotemporal clustering analysis.

andres96@ufl.edu

Luis was a research assistant in the UF Infectious Disease Dynamics lab. He graduated from Princeton University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Before coming to UF, he worked as a research assistant at a disease mathematical modeling group at Hokkaido University in Japan. His interests include statistical and mathematical modeling of infectious diseases, social and behavioral patterns as they relate to disease dynamics, and more.

luisponce@ufl.edu

Talia was a post-doctoral research fellow in the epidemic modeling unit at CDC’s Dengue Branch, working with Michael Johansson and co-advised by Dr. Cummings. Her interests included understanding microscale transmission dynamics and control strategies of influenza, dengue and zika and using historical data to understand regional and global spatiotemporal dynamics. She completed her PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and has an ScM in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the TH Chan Harvard School of Public Health, and an MPH in Global Health from Emory Rollins School of Public Health. She’s worked on febrile and vector-borne illness surveillance and global health policy at DoD-GEIS, and arenavirus and hantavirus epidemiology/ecology at CDC/Emory University.

taliaquandelacy@cdc.gov

Profiles

• Google Scholar Page

Susan is a former Research Assistant with Dr. Cummings, where she worked on the ResPECT clinical trial on mask effectiveness for influenza, as well as partnered with Epicentre on vaccine trials for rotavirus and Ebola. She is currently pursuing her PhD at Harvard University in Population Health Sciences (Nutritional Epidemiology), and is working on a new treatment modality for acute malnutrition targeting the repair of the gut microbiome. Her research interests focus on the vicious cycle between malnutrition and infection, and the potential biological interventions to disrupt that cycle.

susanrattigan@g.harvard.edu

Diana is a Medical Doctor from Colombia and received her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Florida for her work on epidemiology and transmission dynamics of arbovirus in Latin America. She is currently a Postdoctoral associate in the department of Biostatistics at University of Florida working with Prof. Ira M. Longini. Her research focuses on design and analysis of epidemiological studies to understand the transmission dynamics of arboviruses and other emerging pathogens. Further, she assesses the impact of prevention and control strategies for infectious diseases of global importance. She also collaborates with Prof. Derek Cummings in the department of Biology studying the dynamics of dengue maternal antibodies in infants and their impact on dengue severity.

Diana is a former Ph.D. student in Entomology at the University of Florida under the advisement of Dr. Alto, Dr. Burckett-Cadena, Dr. Cummings, and Dr. Mathias. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Tropical Biology, a Licenciate’s in Clinical Microbiology, and a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from the University of Costa Rica. She is currently working at the Vector Research Laboratory of the Center for Research in Tropical Diseases (LIVE, CIET) and the Medical Entomology Section (Faculty of Microbiology of the University of Costa Rica), which investigates the impact of arthropods on human health. She is involved in projects related to the dynamics of virus transmission by mosquitoes, their ecology, and the status of resistance of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus to insecticides in some areas of the country, as well as in a project related to the use of entomopathogenic bacteria isolated from nematodes for their potential use in the control of Ae. aegypti.

diana.rojas_a@ucr.ac.cr

Profiles

• Google Scholar Page
• Research Gate
• ORCHID

Ben is currently a postdoc in Northwestern University working on COVID-19 and malaria models. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Florida in Ecology and prior to that gained over five years of experience in coastal and marine ecology. He loves working with data and aspires to use big data, statistics, and machine learning to solve environmental and epidemiological concerns.

kokbent@ufl.edu

Bingyi was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Biology, working on modeling interactions between antibodies responses of previous and current exposures of seasonal influenza. Her interests include characterising the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that would impact the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. She is now a Research Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong.

yangby@hku.hk

Profiles

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