Assessing the propagation of SARS-CoV-2 through epidemic models in networked metapopulations

Introduce e modera:
Vito Latora
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia "E. Majorana", Università degli Studi di Catania
School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, UK

ABSTRACT: The spread of COVID-19 is posing an unprecedented threat to health systems worldwide. The fast propagation of the disease combined with the existence of covert contagions by  asymptomatic individuals make the controlling of this disease particularly challenging. Thus, the use of epidemic models that integrate the epidemiological information together with demographical and mobility data is of utmost importance in order to anticipate the virus trajectory and implement efficient non-pharmacological contention policies. Here we will present how these models can be constructed and which questions can be addressed from their study. Finally, we will show how these kind of models can be used in the case of the propagation of SARS-CoV-2 to device proper mobility restrictions and confinement strategies, fundamental to change the course and duration of the COVID-19 pandemics. 

BRIEF BIO: Jesús Gómez-Gardeñes received the title of Physics from the University of Zaragoza in 2002, and is a doctor (extraordinary prize) in Physical Sciences from the same university in 2006, which was awarded the "Extraordinary Prize". After a postdoctoral period at the Scuola Superiore di Catania (Italy) and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona) as "Juan de la Cierva" researcher, and the Department of Applied Mathematics of the Rey Juan University Carlos (Madrid), he joined the University of Zaragoza as "Ramón y Cajal" senior researcher where, since 2019, he is Profesor Titular.

Dr. Gómez-Gardeñes is also head of the Theoretical and Applied Modeling Group (GOTHAM lab) at the Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI). His group's main fields of research are statistical physics, nonlinear dynamics, and complex network theory. Within these disciplines, it has focused mainly on the study of the appearance of collective phenomena (such as epidemics, synchronization, consensus, etc.). Along these lines, he has co-authored more than 100 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals (JCRs), including Nature Physics, PNAS, Physical Review Letters, Physics Reports, Physical Review X, Advances in Physics and Science Advances among others, accumulating more than 11K citations according to Google Scholar. For his work, he was recognized by the Royal Physical Society of Spain with the Novel Investigator in Theoretical Physics award. Furthermore, Dr. Gómez-Gardeñes has supervised 10 master's theses and 4 doctoral theses.