The seminar "Feels right, but it’s so wrong: The impact of empirical data analysis on public health practical intervention" will be held on December 12, at 6:00 p.m., at the “Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto” (ISEP).

The event will take place in room H422 at ISEP, and will have as invited lecturer Dr. Maíra Aguiar, Mathematical Epidemiologist working on infectious disease dynamics at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics, in Bilbao, Spain. The event will be hybrid. The admission to the event is free, but the number of places is subject to the capacity of the room.

"Feels right, but it’s so wrong: The impact of empirical data analysis on public health practical intervention"

Abstract

Dengue fever epidemiology dynamics shows large fluctuations of disease incidence and mathematical models describing transmission of disease ultimately aim to be used as predictive tools to evaluate the introduction of intervention strategies. In this talk, I will present three examples highlighting the potential consequences of erroneous data analysis, demonstrating how misinterpretation of data can contribute to the flawed and ineffective public health interventions, highlighting the critical importance of accurate data analysis in guiding informed decision-making in public health strategies for disease control.

Bio

Dr Maíra Aguiar is a mathematical epidemiologist working on infectious disease dynamics. With a multidisciplinary research profile, is trained in dynamical systems theory, stochastic processes, nonlinear dynamics, bifurcation analysis and biostatistics and her scientific interests addresses significant mathematical and fundamental questions in biology and medicine, with special focus on public health epidemiology modeling. Dr Aguiar is a former Marie Curie Fellow at Trento University, Italy. Since 2020, Dr. Aguiar is based at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM – Bilbao), Spain, where she leads the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (MTB) group as an Ikerbasque & Ramon y Cajal Researcher.

The "Seminars in Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases" are developed as part of the Epidemiology curricular unit of ISEP's Master's in Biomedical Engineering.

For more information, send an e-mail to: cap@isep.ipp.pt .