Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases

Benjamin Roche is a researcher at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) in Montpellier, France. His work has mostly focused on the study of diversity involved in infectious diseases, from diversity of hosts (i.e., dilution effect) to the diversity of pathogens (through phylodynamics of influenza viruses) through diversity of transmission modes (consequences of direct and environmental transmission of influenza viruses and Buruli ulcer). He is also working on vector control strategies against Chikungunya in French overseas territory and on prevention strategies against Buruli ulcer in Cameroon. He is leading an international project aiming to develop an innovative conceptual and methodological framework to envision optimal public health strategies. He has published more than 60 papers in leading international journals. Hélène Broutin is a researcher at CNRS (the French National Center of Scientific Research) working on the ecology of infectious diseases. She is currently based at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Senegal. Her principal research focuses on vaccine preventable diseases in low income countries, mainly in Africa. She uses a multidisciplinary approach to identify the determinants (environmental, genetics, genetic, and population) that drive the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases, and the impact of vaccination, with a specific focus on meningitis, respiratory infections, pertussis, and measles. The final goal of her research is to help improve vaccine strategies for a better control of diseases in the long term in low income countries. She is a member of the steering committee of MERIT (Meningitis Environmental Risk Information Technologies), an international experts group on meningitis in Africa led by WHO. She has published more than 20 papers in international journals. Frederic Simard is an expert in vector biology and control working at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) in Montpellier, France. He has spent 15 years in tropical Africa exploring the population biology, ecology, and genetics of major mosquito disease vectors. Bridging field and lab studies, medical entomology and evolution, he has been interested in exploring issues related to local adaptation, speciation, and transmission. He has published more than 160 papers in peer-reviewed journals in diverse areas of molecular biology and evolution, genetics and genomics, vector control, and tropical medicine. He is a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals and participates in scientific and advisory committees for various national and international institutions. In 2015, he was appointed Director of the MIVEGEC research unit for 6 years by IRD, CNRS, and the University of Montpellier.