research.html

---
layout: default
title: Research
---
<div class="blurb">
	<h2>Research</h2>

	<p>
		I am currently interested in studying the dynamics on early stages of epidemic outbreaks. In particular, I have been working on the estimation of the date of emergence of an epidemic outbreak using detection data. I'm slightly focusing on applications to the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic and its variants of concern, but we developped our model in a flexible way, so that exploring other infectious diseases would also be possible. 
	</p>
	<p>	
		I have also been collaborating in discussions about epidemic reemergence induced by vaccine hesitancy/fatigue, where we discuss about the dynamics of epidemics depending on the public's adoption of preventive measures.
	</p>

	<h2>Topics of interest</h2>
	<div class="row">
		<div class="column">
		<p><strong>Mathematical modeling</strong></p>
			<ul>
				<li>Mathematical epidemiology</li>
				<li>Infectious disease modeling</li>
				<li>Computational epidemiology</li>
				<li>Epidemic (re)emergence dynamics</li>
				<li>Game theoretic approaches</li>
				<li>Bayesian methods</li>
				<li>Optimal control</li>
			</ul>
		</div>
		<div class="column">
		<p><strong>Epidemic control and prevention</strong></p>
			<ul>
				<li>HIV and other STIs epidemics control</li>
				<li>Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis</li>
				<li>Voluntary prevention adoption</li>
				<li>Vaccine hesitancy</li>
				<li>Nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection</li>
				<li>SARS-CoV-2 emergence</li>
				<li>Public health policies</li>
			</ul>
		</div>
	</div>

	<br>
	<h2>My journey</h2>
	<p>
	Born in Quito-Ecuador, I obtained my bachelor degree on Mathematics at
	the <a href="https://math.epn.edu.ec" target="_blank">Escuela Politécnica Nacional</a> (EPN), in Quito. 
	I moved to Paris in 2013 to enroll the Master's degree program in Applied Mathematics,
	MathBio speciality, at <a href="https://www.ljll.math.upmc.fr/MathModel/presentation/mbio.html" target="_blank">Sorbonne Université</a> (SU), 
	the former Pierre & Marie Curie University (UPMC) or Paris 6 University.
	</p>
	<p>
	I did my PhD at <a href="https://www.iplesp.upmc.fr/en/team/SUMO" target="_blank">Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology
	and Public Health</a> (IPLESP), a joint research and health unit from SU and Inserm, 
	supervised by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aw2YhuEAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">Virginie Supervie</a> (Inserm) and <a href="https://research.pasteur.fr/en/member/romulus-breban/">Romulus Breban</a> (Institut Pasteur). 
	My doctoral research project concerned the mathematical modeling of infectious diseases, 
	accounting for voluntary adoption of preventive methods, using a game-theoretical approach. 
	Two applications were explored: i) voluntary vaccination against chilhood infectious diseases (such as measles) and ii) pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake to prevent HIV infection among men
	who have sex with men at high risk of HIV infection. I defended my thesis in July, 2021.
	</p>
	<p>
	I was a postdoctoral researcher at the <a href="https://mesurs.cnam.fr/?lang=fr" target="_blank">Modeling, epidemiology
	and monitoring of health risks</a> (MESuRS) lab, at Cnam, from September 2020 to December 2021.
	I worked with <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/kvnjean/" target="_blank">Kévin Jean</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=fr&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=laura+temime&btnG=&oq=Laura+temi" target="_blank">Laura Temime</a> on mathematical modeling of the nosocomial spreading of COVID-19.
	In particular, the aim was to estimate the SARS-CoV-2 infection risk among healthcare
	workers participating in the quarantine-hospital intervention established by
	the Egyptian government during the first wave ofthe COVID-19 epidemic.
	</p>

	<p>
	I was recently a postdoctoral researcher at the <a href="https://iees-paris.fr/teams/interaction-networks/" target="_blank">Institute of ecology and environmental
	sciences of Paris</a> (IEES), a joint research unit from CNRS and SU. I worked with <a href="https://www.normalesup.org/~fdebarre/" target="_blank">Florence Débarre</a> (CNRS), <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/francoisblanquart/home" target="_blank">François Blanquart</a> (Collège de France) and <a href="https://czuppon.net" target="_blank">Peter Czuppon</a> (University of Münster) studying the dynamics of early epidemics. We developped a model aiming to estimate the date of emergence of epidemic outbreaks, using available case data. We applied our model to the COVID-19 epidemic, using i) data on the first reported sequences of the Alpha variant and ii) data on early COVID-19 reported cases.
	</p>
<br>
<p style="font-size:10px;text-align:center;">
		Updated: April, 2023.
	</p>
</div><!-- /.blurb -->