EpiModel Research Lab @ Emory University

The EpiModel Research Lab at Emory University is comprised of graduate students, staff, and post-doctoral fellows dedicated to the development and application of advanced methods in infectious disease epidemiology, mathematical modeling, and network science to understand critical public health problems.

Data Analysts

Adrien Le Guillou headshot
Adrien Le Guillou

Adrien Le Guillou, MD is a French epidemiologist and former post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He received his MD in 2019 from the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne where his work focused on the impact the Treatment as Prevention (TasP) for HIV had on the French population. He is currently working with the EpiModel Research Lab as a contributor to the EpiModel software package and as investigator on its research applications. His research interests are the application of causal reasonning and mathematical modeling to explore the epidemiology of HIV and viral hepatitis.

Jason Gantenberg headshot
Jason Gantenberg
Jason is a Research Scientist in the Department of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health. His subject matter interests include HIV, sexually transmitted diseases (primarily gonorrhea and other bacterial STDs), and respiratory infections. His methods interests center around agent-based modeling, machine learning, causal inference, and complex systems more generally. He is working with the EpiModel Research Lab on structuring and validating model code related to bacterial STIs.

PhD Students

Emeli Anderson headshot
Emeli Anderson
Emeli is a PhD student in epidemiology at Emory University. Her research focuses on HIV and sexually transmitted infection transmission dynamics in sexual networks. In particular, she is interested in the relationship between a population's underlying network structure and a pathogen's transmission potential and how this information can be used to prevent disease transmission. Before beginning the PhD program, she received her MSPH with a concentration in epidemiology from Emory University, and a BS in Economics from American University.
Laura Mann headshot
Laura Mann
Laura Mann is a PhD student in epidemiology interested in HIV and STI prevention and infectious disease modeling. Her current research focuses on using mathematical models to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HIV incidence in the US. Prior to joining Emory, Laura worked at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention as an epidemiologist and STEM Presidential Management Fellow. Laura has a BS in biological sciences with a concentration in physiology & neurobiology from the University of Maryland and an MPH in epidemiology from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
Christina Chandra headshot
Christina Chandra

Christina is a PhD student in Epidemiology at Emory University. As a research assistant in the EpiModel lab, she has conducted analyses on geographic disparities in STI screening among men who have sex with men using PrEP and comparisons of measurement methods for momentary network degree. Her research interests include HIV prevention research, the use of mathematical modeling in implementation science, and the intersection of HIV and aging and mental health.

Udodirim Onwubiko headshot
Udodirim Onwubiko

Udodirim is a doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology at Emory University and is interested in research focused on infectious disease prevention, health service delivery, and utilization and health outcomes evaluation. She is exploring the impact of index and partner network modifications in HIV partner services on HIV acquisition among men who have sex with men. She has worked as an Epidemiologist with the state and local health departments supporting TB and STI prevention efforts in homeless and sexual minority population. She has an MBBS degree in medicine from the University of Nigeria and an MPH in Global Epidemiology from Emory University. She is co-advised in her PhD by Dr. Allison Chamberlain.

Jonathan Ackleh-Tingle headshot
Jonathan Ackleh-Tingle

Jonathan is a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology, and a dual MD-PhD student in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health , at Emory University. He received an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he attended as a Rotary Global Grant Scholar. While initially involved in cardiovascular disease epidemiology research, he grew more interested in social epidemiology and infectious disease epidemiology during his 3rd year of medical school training. Jonathan's current research focuses on mood and substance use disorders and their downstream effects on HIV transmission dynamics.

Enoch Chen headshot
Enoch Chen

Enoch Chen is a PhD student in Epidemiology at Emory University. His research interests include understanding population-level impacts and cost-effectiveness of home-based PrEP interventions. He is also interested in applying machine learning to understand trends of PrEP use. Before coming to Emory, Enoch worked as an epidemiologist at the Atlanta VA hospital. Enoch received his MPH in Epidemiology from Emory University, and BS in Biology from Azusa Pacific University. His primary academic advisor is Aaron Siegler at Emory University.

Maria Garcia Quesada headshot
Maria Garcia Quesada

Maria Garcia Quesada is an Epidemiology PhD student interested in infectious disease epidemiology, vaccine impact research, and mathematical modeling. Her current research includes using EpiModel to estimate the potential impact of workplace interventions to slow SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Prior to Emory, Maria worked at the International Vaccine Access Center primarily researching the global impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. Maria has a BS in Public Health and Neuroscience from Tulane University and a MSPH in Global Disease Epidemiology and Control from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her primary academic advisor is Ben Lopman.

Zongbo Li headshot
Zongbo Li

Zongbo Li is a PhD student in Health Services Research, Policy & Administration program at University of Minnesota. His research focuses on infectious diseases (COVID-19 pandemic and HIV) and substance use. He is interested in applying simulation models and cost-effectiveness analysis to investigate optimal prevention and treatment strategies for these diseases. He has an MPH degree in Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health, and BS in Laboratory Medicine and BA in Economics at Peking University. His primary advisor is Dr. Eva Enns at the University of Minnesota.

MPH/MSPH Students

Karina Wallrafen-Sam headshot
Karina Wallrafen-Sam

Karina is a second-year MSPH student in Epidemiology at Emory University and a research assistant in the EpiModel lab. Her research interests include the applications of mathematical models to COVID-19 and HIV prevention. She has a BS in applied mathematics from Northwestern University and previously worked for Deloitte Consulting.

Benjamin Goldberg headshot
Benjamin Goldberg

Ben is an MPH student in epidemiology at Emory University. His interests include epidemic and economic modeling of HIV, other sexually transmitted infections, and respiratory diseases and associated interventions for each. He is currently a research assistant in the EpiModel Research Lab, working on a monkeypox epidemic model and the beginning stages of the STIRRUP study to model the impact of PrEP on the spread of STIs and the cost-effectiveness of interventions.

Isaac Schneider headshot
Isaac Schneider

Isaac is a second-year student in the Global Epidemiology MPH program at Emory University and a graduate research assistant in the EpiModel lab. Prior to the start of his master's program, Isaac majored in microbiology at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities where he developed a strong interest in infectious diseases. His current research interests include infectious disease modeling for global and underserved populations.

Affiliated Faculty

The EpiModel Research Lab maintains many collaborations with academic faculty at Emory University and across the world. Here are some of our primary faculty collaborators across primary infectious disease modeling research projects.

Emory University

Georgia State University

University of Washington

University of Minnesota

Harvard Medical School

Northwestern University

Emory Research Lab Alumni

These past graduate students at Emory University have worked with the EpiModel Research Lab as research assistants and/or mentees for MPH theses and PhD dissertations.