THE MATHEMATICS OF STUDY DESIGN AND GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY

WELCOME SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

For 15 years, I have been intrigued by the variable impact of health interventions, whether at the level of organisms, populations, or communities. In the search for explanations, my research group has been developing and applying theory and methods to the design and analysis of specific host-pathogen studies, and proposing new protocols to assess risk factors and intervention strategies. Our research has been focused on:

1. the fragility of point measurements (examples from biocontrol experiments);
2. the right variable for analysis of risk (examples from clinical trials);
3. the reduction of inequity to power health interventions (examples from epidemiology);
4. viral phylodynamics (feature on influenza).

Specific case studies in different host-pathogen systems have been adopted for testing and refining the representation of new dimensions in mathematical models and study designs, while monitoring host response to various challenges. We systematically conclude that variance is an essential health indicator, which has been mostly overlooked in research and policy. We are now working with policy makers at translating these results into more informative study designs and more effective global health policy.

Gabriela Gomes graduated in Applied Mathematics from the University of Porto in 1987, and completed her MSc and PhD in Mathematics from the University of Warwick in 1990 and 1993, respectively. In 1999, she was awarded a Wellcome Research Training Fellowship in Mathematical Biology. In 2002, established a research group at IGC, initially supported by a Marie Curie Excellence Grant, with a spectrum of projects ranging from fundamental mathematical concepts to management of population and ecosystem health, public engagement in science and development of research infrastructures for epidemic analysis and forecast. She holds a visiting research position at the Institute for Mathematics and Statistics, University of São Paulo, since 2014, and joined the Research Centre for Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO-InBIO), University of Porto, in 2015.

Image credits: Gabriela Gomes