ICCS 2007 : Keynote Abstract Vespignani

Computational epidemiology and emergent disease forecast

Alessandro Vespignani
Indiana University School of Informatics

We present a class of computational epidemic models that integrate transportation and census data on the worldwide scale. The defined models allow the analysis of the impact of complex mobility networks on the behavior of emergent disease spreading and the general issue of the predictive power offered by computational approaches. We finally tackle the analysis of the SARS epidemic and provide forecast scenarios for the worldwide spreading of pandemic influenza.

Alessandro Vespignani obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Rome La Sapienza. After holding research positions at Yale University and Leiden University, he has joined the condensed matter research group at the International Center for Theoretical Physics (UNESCO) in Trieste where he has ran research and teaching activities for more than five years. Vespignani has then entered the French National Council for Scientific Research, carrying on his academic activities at the Laboratoire de Physique Theorique of the University of Paris-Sud. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers on the properties and characterization of non-equilibrium phenomena, critical phase transitions and complex systems. Recently Vespignani's research activity is focused on the interdisciplinary application of statistical physics and numerical simulation methods in the analysis of epidemic and spreading phenomena and the study of biological, social and technological networks. He was the advisor of several graduate and undergraduate theses and organizer of international conferences and schools. Vespignani is author, together with R. Pastor-Satorras, of the book Evolution and Structure of the Internet, published by Cambridge University Press. He was among the five scientists nominated for the Wired Magazine Rave Award in science for 2004.