Opportunities

Undergraduate Opportunities

I am excited to work with undergraduate students, the main way that undergrads can get involved in our group is through the UROP program. We encourage any students who are interested in working with me to reach out directly to discuss questions of interest to then apply for the UROP program.

Current and former undergrads have received UROP funding to look at questions such as how effective were mask mandates in Utah (Alicia Horn) and does the severity of your infector’s SARS-CoV-2 infection predict the severity of your (infectee) infection (Jake Baldorf).

Graduate Student Opportunities

We have a number of projects related to our new CDC ForeSITE Center as part of the Insight Net: National Outbreak Analytics & Disease Modeling Network. That involve developing and improving existing models to create a modeling toolkit for public health response to diseases with pandemic potential. Interested students should reach out directly to find out more about specific projects.

Students interested in joining our lab can apply to a few different programs, including: The Department of Population Health Sciences PhD program, The Department of Mathematics Masters or PhD program, or The Division of Public Health MPH, MSPH, MSTAT: Biostatistics Track or PhD program. When you reach out to discuss potential projects, we can also discuss which program is the best fit

Postdoctoral Positions

Currently I do not have any funded postdoctoral openings. However, if you are interested in joining our group to complete postdoctoral research please contact me to discuss. You should be willing to apply for independent funding in due course. The Division of Epidemiology has an excellent track record of support for independent postdoctoral scientists that eventually seek independent research positions.

Opportunities to engage

R0

I lead a student-focused group meeting for infectious disease epidemiology, dynamics, and modeling called R0. We welcome undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral, and faculty researchers from all training backgrounds to join us to talk about ongoing research, recent publications, and news articles regarding infectious disease modeling. For information about how to join the weekly meetings, please reach out.

E3ID

The Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases (E3ID) at the University of Utah was established as an interdisciplinary campus hub to bring together infectious disease researchers across the University of Utah. The E3ID encompasses expertise in basic science such as ecology, evolution, mathematical biology, social science, and computer science as well as applied disciplines including epidemiology, public health, environmental engineering, and medicine. Our mission is to integrate research across disciplines in order to advance scientific knowledge and provide information to decision makers to improve our ability to respond to infectious disease outbreaks.

E3ID hosts a monthly Seminar Series to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of work in this field. The Seminars will occur on the third Friday of each month and will feature researchers from across the University of Utah campus working in the field of “Ecology, Evolution, and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases”. To learn more, visit the E3ID website.