I am an applied infectious diseases epidemiologist. My research focusses on emerging and high consequence infectious diseases, covering aspects such as risk factor identification, development of novel surveillance systems and outbreak response mechanisms. My current research is primarily concerned with the early detection and prevention of spillover-borne outbreaks of emerging zoonotic diseases. Additionally, I am interested in risk factors for and early detection of infectious disease outbreaks in complex and fragile settings such as humanitarian emergencies or peri-urban informal settlements. Methodologically, the approaches I use span qualitative and quantitative methods with a strong focus on field epidemiology and outbreak analytics.
I completed my PhD in the Health Protection Research Unit for Emergency Preparedness and Response under the supervision of Professor Paul Hunter on outbreak risks in humanitarian emergencies. After my PhD, I worked as an epidemiologist with the European Field Epidemiology Training Program. During that time, I was involved in the COVID-19 response in the European Union and Papua New Guinea as well as the Ebola response in the North-Eastern DRC.
Aside from my academic work, I also maintain a strong involvement in applied infectious diseases public health practice, particularly in outbreak response and epidemic intelligence with organisations such as the World Health Organization and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network as well as by teaching modules for the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) and the European Public Health Microbiology Training Programme (EUPHEM). I am also a member of the board of the EPIET and EUPHEM alumni network.