We study cholera transmission dynamics at multiple levels from individual-level data collected during cholera outbreaks to global incidence data, using a variety of methods including statistical and mechanistic models. Our work spans many disciplines and involves collaborators ranging from front-line public health workers to bench scientists. Our main bodies of current work are:

Global Burden of Cholera

In collaboration with the Global Taskforce for Cholera Control (GTFCC) we have built and maintain a large database of cholera incidence and mortality that can accommodate surveillance data that comes in all shapes and sizes (for example, different case definitions, reporting intervals, and spatial scales). We have developed methods to integrate all of this data into a common statistical framework to better understand cholera burden and transmission dynamics worldwide and continue to work on making it more robust. These estimates are also used to help GTFCC track progress in End Cholera Roadmap and by Gavi to help better forecast vaccine demand. 

Estimates of Effectiveness and Impact of Interventions

We work on trying to better estimate the effectiveness and impact of cholera interventions, including cholera vaccine. This work ranges from developing new statistical methods to estimate intervention effectiveness from observational studies to retrospective case studies of outbreaks. Other global work, including consultations with GAVI, includes estimating the potential impact of large scale rollout of vaccination globally.

Real-Time and Strategic Modeling to Inform Outbreak Response

We work closely with those on the frontline of cholera epidemics including ministries of health, Global Task Force for Cholera Control members, Médecins Sans Frontières and others to analyse data in on-going cholera outbreaks to assess risk, often capitalizing on data from our cholera incidence repository, characterize key properties of transmission (e.g., modes of transmission, reproductive number) and to make short-term forecasts of the epidemic trajectory.