Undergraduate Mini-Workshop on Mathematical Modeling of Malaria
The undergraduate Mini-Workshop Mathematical Modeling of Malaria will be held at the Minnesota State University, Mankato during June 2-4 2023. The workshop is now postponed to September 29-October 1, 2023.
Vector-borne diseases (VBD) still impose heavy health and economic burdens across the globe, especially in developing countries. The emergence of novel diseases, like the novel 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19), can create sudden shifts in the economic landscape, and disrupt VBD control programs by diverting economic and health resources and changing contact networks. In this workshop, we will bring undergraduate students to learn about developing and linking economic models with infectious disease models. The workshop will emphasize hands-on experiments about setting up, simulating, and analyzing these models.
Application
We are excited to announce that we have been able to secure funding for travel reimbursement (up to $800) for undergraduate student participants for this workshop. To receive full consideration, a complete application including 1) a resume, 2) one page addressing your interest, 3) an unofficial transcript, 4) one reference letter from a faculty member, should be submitted to Ruijun Zhao at ruijun.zhao@mnsu.edu (also copied to oprosper@utk.edu and calistusnn@ufl.edu) by February 1, 2023. Accepted participants will be notified by March 1, 2023.
The application has been extended to July 1, 2023. A decision will be made by July 15, 2023.
Workshop Organizers
- Dr. Ruijun Zhao (Chair), Minnesota State University, Mankato
- Dr. Calistus Ngonghala, University of Florida
- Dr. Olivia Prosper, the University of Tennessee
Special Guest
- Professor Charles Mbogo, Kenya Medical Research Institute
Acknowledgments
- National Science Foundation
- Department for Mathematics and Statistics, College of Science, Engineering, and Technology, Minnesota State University, Mankato
More about the workshop
This workshop is the first of the two workshops supported by an NSF-funded project - Collaborative Research: A New Multiscale Framework for Integrating Socio-Economic Processes, Vector-Borne Disease Control, and the Impact of Transient Events. The project is aimed at incorporating dynamic feedback between disease and economic systems into mathematical models for vector-borne diseases and building the mathematical toolbox required to analyze and simulate these coupled systems. This toolbox will include advancements of commonly-used methods that break down for economic-VBD models, different methods to incorporate the distribution of bednets whose efficacy changes over time, the study of transient dynamics that arise from endogenous and exogenous factors, and finally, the application of these models to malaria, using socio-economic and epidemiological data from Kenya, Madagascar, and West Africa.
Shuttles from Minneapolis/St.Paul International Airport to Mankato
Accommodations
AmericInn Mankato (2 blocks from campus)
240 Stadium Road Mankato, MN 56001
Phone: 507-345-8011
