Welcome to the lab for Modeling and Theory in Ecology and Epidemiology

We study the complexity underlying the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases.

Our work relies on a variety of extensive data sets, from long time series of disease incidence that span decades, to large ecological networks, to molecular (sequence) data on pathogens. The disease work involves international collaborations with public health and research partners around the world. On the theoretical front, we use mathematical models together with computational and statistical approaches to bridge the gap between data and models.

Our research

Our research addresses the Ecology and Evolution of infectious diseases. 

Host-pathogen systems are paradigmatic and fascinating examples of complex adaptive systems. They combine the challenges of nonlinear dynamics, large number of interactions between diverse components, and changing conditions because of evolution or environmental changes. Questions on how to model these systems and at what scales, how to make inferences from large but incomplete data sets, how to predict and alter the course of their dynamics, are central at this time of increased contact between natural and built-in environments, increased human movement, and rapid environmental changes. Our work relies on a variety of extensive data sets, from long time series of disease incidence that span decades, to large ecological networks, to molecular (sequence) data on pathogens. The disease work involves international collaborations with public health and research partners around the world. On the theoretical front, we use mathematical models together with computational and statistical approaches to bridge the gap between data and models.

See more at out RESEARCH and PUBLICATIONS sections.

New paper published on relative humidity as driver of inter-annual variability of urban malaria

Thank you Mauricio and Pamela (former graduate students, now in their respective faculty jobs at the Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia, and The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and our partners in India, for this work. Here, we show that the interannual...

New paper on the role of temperature and humidity in waves of COVID-19

There has been much discussion on whether climate factors influence the temporal dynamics of Covid19. In this paper by Xavier Rodó et al., we provide evidence for a role of temperature and humidity. Seasonality of wintertime respiratory infections in temperate regions...

Cover runners-up for Nature Communications in 2021

Thank you to the artist, Lluc Rodó De Yebra! We almost made it! Take a look here.

Mercedes in Palma de Mallorca at Econet21

Mercedes had a wonderful time in Palma de Mallorca where she gave two invited lectures: one, a plenary in the V Symposium on Ecological Networks (Econet 21, organized by IMEDEA and IFISC this year); the other, a public lecture in Spanish on marine ecosystems entitled...

Congratulations Dr. Rahul Subramanian!

Congratulations Dr. Rahul Subramanian for graduating with a wonderful thesis on the population dynamics of dengue! Congratulations also for the quantitative fellowship at NIH!