Shweta Bansal, PhD

Professor, Department of Biology | Georgetown University

The Hidden Architecture of Disease: How Animal Behavior Shapes Infectious Disease Transmission

Host social behavior represents a major gap in our understanding of infectious disease dynamics, from emergence to forecasting to elimination. In this talk, I'll use a comparative analysis across 70+ animal species to demonstrate the opportunities and constraints provided by social networks for infectious disease transmission. I'll conclude with a case study of bottlenose dolphins, demonstrating how integrating social and spatial network data can predict individual disease vulnerability and optimize wildlife surveillance strategies.

Hosted by: Nicholas Landry, PhD

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Gilmer Hall Auditorium 390