Professor
Disease Modeling and Ecology
Princeton University
Topic: Phylodynamics & universal ‘flu vaccines
Dr. Grenfell is a population biologist, working at the interface between theoretical models and empirical data. His lab investigates the population dynamics of infectious diseases, focusing on their epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics and control by vaccination. They approach these problems by working at the interface of theoretical models and empirical data. They are especially interested in understanding the nonlinear spatio-temporal dynamics of acute immunizing infections and how these are affected by control strategies. They are generalizing an initial and continuing focus on measles and exploring comparative dynamics of a range of pathogens, including influenza, rotavirus, RSV, Norovirus, HIV, HCV, and veterinary morbilliviruses. The lab also explores phylodynamics, in particular how pathogen phylogenies are affected by host immunity, transmission bottlenecks and epidemic dynamics at scales from individual host to the population level. Finally, his lab is keen on exploring ‘cross-scale’ dynamics of pathogens: from within-host dynamics to the population scale and especially the impact of human behavioral dynamics