Description
Institut Pasteur is a non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases and vaccines. For over a century, the Institute has been at the forefront of the battle against infectious diseases. With 130 research laboratories and units, 20 National Reference Centres (in charge of disease surveillance in France) and a unique international network of 32 institutes that spread across five continents, Institut Pasteur is a unique environment to develop inter-disciplinary and translational research. Institut Pasteur’s campus is based in central Paris. In November 2013, Institut Pasteur will welcome a new research Unit dedicated to the mathematical modelling of infectious diseases. The Unit will be directed by Dr Simon Cauchemez. Working at the frontier between Epidemiology, Microbiology and Public Health, and relying on sophisticated mathematical and statistical models, its aims are to improve the scientific understanding of infectious disease dynamics (within and between hosts), transmission and control. The very diverse set of outstanding competences at Institut Pasteur offers a unique opportunity to develop a multidisciplinary perspective on infectious disease modelling and construct the next generation of mathematic models that make best use of data gathered at very different scales (cellular, host, population). The Unit will also provide real-time analyses and support to decision makers during emerging infectious disease outbreaks. As the Unit is created, Dr Cauchemez is seeking two postdocs (3-year contracts) to work on a portfolio of research projects. The postdocs will develop statistical and mathematical models to analyse a wide range of infectious disease data, in close collaboration with epidemiologists, virologists and microbiologists. The portfolio includes but is not limited to: i) model pathogen emergence and establishment / predict future emerging infectious diseases (with deep sequencing and detailed experimental data monitoring emergence in hosts); ii) develop tools for epidemiological risk assessment of emerging infectious diseases in a context where surveillance data are scarce and biased; iii) quantify the impact of interventions on transmission (e.g. estimating the impact of reactive school closures on influenza transmission from detailed spatial incidence and closure data in a Japanese city); iv) study the biological determinants of transmission (with large and detailed transmission studies where biological samples are available); v) model within-host spatiotemporal dynamics of invasive bacterial disease (with experimental data from animal models); and vi) develop tools for real-time outbreak analysis. The exact projects the successful applicants will undertake will be determined in discussion with Dr Cauchemez, taking into account the applicants’ interests and experience.中国-博士人才网发布
