From transmission routes to vaccine effectiveness, a better understanding of infections can lead to improved outbreak control. But control measures can also shape understanding – and in turn better control. This talk will draw on a range of COVID-19 case studies, including control programmes among health care workers, sports teams and international travellers, to show how systematic pandemic testing programmes can help quantify viral shedding, estimate immunity characteristics and reconstruct global infection dynamics.

Professor Adam Kucharski is a leading expert in Infectious Disease Epidemiology and co-director of the Centre for Epidemic Preparedness and Response at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). His research is centred on making better use of data and analytics to understand the dynamics of infectious diseases and to enhance epidemic preparedness and response. This includes conducting large-scale studies on social behaviour and immunity, as well as developing open-source software tools to aid in these efforts. His research has been instrumental in guiding policy and scientific understanding during multiple outbreaks, including the West African Ebola outbreak in 2014, Zika virus in 2016, and notably during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Kucharski also regularly writes about science for a wider audience, with his latest book The Rules of Contagion named as a Times, Guardian, and FT Science Book of the Year.

The seminar will take place from 12:00 to 13:00 in the BDI building, seminar rooms, followed by lunch and networking from 13:00 to 14:00.