The use of mathematical modelling to inform public health responses
Abstract: Dr. Sundaresan will speak about his team's journey in using mathematical models to inform public health responses in Karnataka, a large state in southern India. He will begin with the following efforts during 2020-22 on the use of mathematical modelling to inform pandemic response in Karnataka --- simulation models for disease spread, operational research questions for improved testing and vaccination prioritization, serological survey design and analysis, early warning systems, the effectiveness of curfew-like interventions, forecast hub, wastewater surveillance, the team's collaboration with the Biocomplexity Institute in these efforts, and the team's interactions with Karnataka's policymakers to inform responses. He will then discuss how these models and the expertise are now being applied to address other infectious diseases.
Biography: Rajesh Sundaresan is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering and the Dean of the Division of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science. He has held visiting positions at Qualcomm Inc., the Coordinated Sciences Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Toulouse Mathematical Institute, Strand Life Sciences, and the Indian Statistical Institute's Bengaluru Centre. His research interests include decision theory, communication, computation, and control over networks, cyber-social systems, and, more recently, data-driven decision frameworks for public health responses.
The Seminar will be concluded with a Networking Lunch. Please reach out to Abhijin Adiga or Lucius Lichte if you would like to request a meeting with Rajesh Sundaresan