Environmental, ecological and social dynamics of infectious diseases in a changing environment
Justin Remais, Professor
Public Health
Applications for Spring 2024 are closed for this project.
ALL OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE GROUP ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN-PERSON
The Remais Lab is currently seeking a URAP apprentice(s) to collaborate on multiple domestic and global research projects on infectious disease and environmental change.
Environmental, ecological and social dynamics are central to the epidemiology of infectious diseases caused by environmental pathogens, and understanding these links can yield new evidence in support of ecological preservation and restoration, more reliable projections of future disease in light of environmental change, novel opportunities to prevent disease transmission through social and behavioral interventions, and new theoretical advances that allow for more reliable prediction in complex systems. Yet in many cases, the environmental, ecological and social factors that mediate transmission of pathogens between people and the environment are poorly understood, particularly in the context of environmental change.
We are tackling this problem, examining the environmental epidemiology and dynamics of infectious diseases including vector- and dust-borne infectious diseases in California, waterborne diseases in East Asia, parasitic infections in West Africa, fungal infections across the United States, and others.
Undergraduate students are deeply integrated into our research group, contributing in a range of technical areas. Undergraduate students will have the opportunity to meet and work with Prof Remais, along with postdocs, staff scientists and graduate students, and will have the opportunity to join lab meetings and share ideas on all facets of our global infectious disease research program.
Role: We are a group of modelers, epidemiologists, engineers, environmental scientists, computer scientists, ecologists, environmental health scientists and others. We address our research questions with a range of tools. These include GIS/spatial data science, epidemiologic analysis, computer science, environmental engineering/analysis, and statistical and numerical analysis.
URAP apprentice will leverage existing epidemiological and environmental datasets -- in addition to generating or acquiring additional social and environmental data -- to investigate the determinants of infectious disease transmission between individuals and the environment using these tools and/or others, within study regions that span Ecuador, China, Senegal, California and across the United States.
Qualifications: A background in environmental science, computer science, mathematics, modeling, population biology, environmental engineering, or epidemiology are especially helpful, and/or a technical skillset that includes statistical, numerical or spatial analysis, GIS, math, or programming in any language. Effective written and verbal communication are essential. Advanced qualifications of the candidate would be a plus, including experience with modeling (statistical, mechanistic, environmental, etc.), familiarity with R, programming, experience with hierarchical modeling, time series, theoretical ecology, remote sensing, GIS or differential equations. Subject matter expertise in West Nile virus, other arboviruses, helminth infections, diarrheal diseases, mycotic infections (e.g., coccidioidomycosis) and other systems we work on is a plus.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Brittany Bustamante, Post-Doc
Hours: to be negotiated
Related website: http://sph.berkeley.edu/justin-remais
Related website: http://justinremais.weebly.com/