Dear AMMnet,

Welcome to the November newsletter! This month we are offering the newsletter in Portuguese for the first time to better support our lusophone members.

Please contact info@ammnet.org if you would like to contribute any items to next month’s newsletter!

Contents:

1. Special announcements
2. Jobs, workshops, conferences, and opportunities
3. Working group announcements
4. Board and committee announcements
5. Monthly seminar recap
6. Celebrations

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1. Special announcements

AMMnet at ASTMH!
It was so nice to meet many of you in person at the ASTMH 2022 conference in Seattle! And a heartfelt thank you to our colleagues with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Malaria team, the Malaria Modeling Community, and the Institute for Disease Modeling for a successful gathering to learn about the latest science. We look forward to seeing many of you at ASTMH 2023 in Chicago, where we will have another malaria modeling day!

What type of content would you like to see in the AMMnet seminars? 
Please fill out the poll here and provide us with your suggestions.

Upcoming group discussion on AMMnet objectives and activities
Reminder: Our January 10th seminar meeting will be a group discussion with all AMMnet members on our objectives as an organization and what activities we should engage in to achieve those objectives. Please be sure to join and contribute your ideas and perspectives!

Join the AMMnet Slack workspace
If you haven’t joined the AMMnet slack workspace, join here! (Link expires 2022 Dec 11.) Many announcements, including job opportunities and upcoming events, are posted first on the Slack.

2. Jobs, workshops, conferences, and opportunities

Jobs
Several open positions at Swiss TPH! 
Have a look at their website https://jobs.swisstph.ch/Jobs/All

UMKC Predoctoral Fellowship Available in Infectious Disease Modelin
The University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI) and Division of Computing, Analytics and Mathematics (CAM) in collaboration with UC DAVIS School of Veterinary Medicine, are jointly seeking five predoctoral fellows for research on infectious disease modeling. Fellows will receive a competitive stipend and the tuition will be paid in full.

For more information please visit: https://sites.google.com/view/mvl-paths/open-positions 

For inquiries, please contact Dr. Bani. 

Postdoctoral and/or Research Staff Positions Available in the Department of Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases at Notre Dame
The Perkins Lab at the University of Notre Dame invites applications for multiple positions. Depending on the qualifications and fit of the applicant, these positions could take a variety of forms ranging from Postdoctoral Researcher to Research Programmer to Post-Baccalaureate Researcher.

• Three-year project to advance our efforts in modeling the impact of vaccination against yellow fever as part of the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium. (https://www.vaccineimpact.org/). Prior work on this topic: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abg5033
• Investigate the dynamics of co-circulating pathogens, with an emphasis on mosquito-transmitted viruses and respiratory pathogens. Three-year project supported by a MIRA Award from NIGMS. More detailed summary: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/OMVqjoYJ-kua6iEkEhKg3A/project-details/10493366. 

Across these projects, there are a wide range of modeling and other techniques that could be relevant, so applicants with varied backgrounds are welcome to apply. Experience working with spatial data and/or time-series forecasting would be especially valued.

• Applicants for a postdoctoral position should have a PhD in a quantitative field and an interest in infectious disease epidemiology, with prior experience in this area preferred.
• Successful applicants at other levels should have a bachelor’s degree at a minimum and must have substantial prior research experience and coding experience in R.
• Salary will be competitive and determined based on the qualifications of the applicant. 

Individuals with an interest in one of these opportunities should submit the following to taperkins@nd.edu: Cover letter describing the applicant’s research interests and background; a curriculum vitae; and contact information for three references. More information about the Perkins Lab can be found at http://perkinslab.weebly.com.

Provost’s Visiting Professor at Imperial College
More information here

More job opportunities available at https://iddjobs.org/

Workshops and conferences

11th Annual Conference to Increase Diversity in Mathematical Modeling & Public Health
This Conference is for undergraduates or students in a post baccalaureate program from underrepresented groups who have an interest in public health and/or mathematical modeling, and are studying quantitative disciplines and/or public health at their home institutions. See the conference website for more details.

The Conference will tentatively take place March 27-28, 2023 at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Grand Challenge Opportunity Strengthening Modeling and Analytics Capacity and Ecosystem for Women’s Health
This RFP seeks innovative approaches to modeling of women’s health issues or of broader health topics that incorporate a gender lens. We are looking for projects with a 1-to-3-year timeline that will achieve at least one of the objectives below:

• Increase the number of trained modelers, especially women with gender expertise based in low-income and middle-income countries
• Achieve a better understanding of issues that disproportionately affect women through modeling
• Improve engagement with modeling approaches to support strategic planning and/or evaluation work

Find more information at the link here.

3. Working group announcements

The Chemoprevention working group will kick off in the next few months! Please join the #chemoprevention channel on the AMMnet slack to participate. All with interest in chemoprevention are welcome!

4. Board and committee announcements

AMMnet board
The board met on November 15. 

15 November 2022 board meeting notes:

Present: Jaline Gerardin, Shannon Stanfill, Justin Millar, Caitlin Bever, Cherlynn Dumbura, Manuela Runge, Hannah Slater, Luc Djogbenou, Emmanuel Bakare, Tatiana Alonso Amor

Absent: Emilie Pothin, Ousmane Diallo

• Welcome new board members!
  • Introductions: Luc Djogbenou, Emmanuel Bakare, and Cherlynn Dumbura
• 1 min round table updates from each committee. What should other committees be aware of?
  • Membership:
    • 257 total members
    • Membership data visualization added to website
  • Seminars:
    • Upcoming meetings:
      • December: Shufang Zhang from Global Fund (main talk); Luc Djogbenou modeler spotlight speaker
      • January: all-hands AMMnet objectives and activities discussion
      • Possible: chemoprevention showcase
    • Survey to members included in November AMMnet newsletter (scheduled for 11/16); 2023 schedule will be developed from survey feedback
    • Seminar back-up plan
  • Workshops-Special Events:
    • Geospatial Workshop scheduled for February 14, 15 or 16
    • Elimination Workshop scheduled for February (date TBD)
  • Social:
    • LinkedIn: 157 followers
    • Twitter: 543 followers
    • Facebook: 93 “likes”
    • Committee exploring strategies for more social media activity
    • Website updated with content from Values and Training Committees
    • Committee exploring opportunities to enhance website
    • Monthly meeting scheduled for second Tuesday each month
  • Training:
    • Extensive list of training opportunities on website.
    • Next committee meeting week of November 21.
  • Values:
    • Values and Guidance document on website.
  • Data:
    • Scheduling monthly committee meeting
    • In process and looking for committee volunteers
      • Github repository
      • WMR 2021/22 data prep for R: Consider hack-a-thon
      • Technical blog
  • Francophone:
    • Scheduling a meeting to discuss materials in French
    • Developing new agenda for meeting
    • Someone will present his career
• Website updates
  • Committee descriptions
  • Membership data
  • Training resources
  • Values & guidance document
• AMMnet Lusophone update
  • Next newsletter translated to Portuguese
  • Baltazar Ça gathering interest and connecting with Mozambique
    • Tatiana will reach out to her Mozambique contacts and share AMMnet info (can include Portuguese translated newsletter link)
    • Hannah will share intro to AMMnet with Board
    • Jaline will introduce Tatiana to Baltazar
  • On deck: translate website into Portuguese
• AMMnet Nigeria update
  • Speaking with different groups to drive awareness of AMMnet
  • recruiting for geographical diversity within Nigeria
  • thinking of World Malaria Day event
  • Whatsapp/Facebook group
• Live translation update (English-French)
  • Meeting with service on Wednesday, November 16
• Strategy sessions: November 29 and December 2 (Shannon added Tatiana)
  • Mission/Vision/Goals/Objectives Meeting 11/29
    • Review agenda
    • Facilitator instructions/guidance/notes 
  • Process/Governance Meeting 12/2 
    • Review draft agenda
• January seminar:
  • January 10 seminar to discuss AMMnet Mission/Vision/Goals/Objectives
  • Announce this special meeting in the November newsletter 
  • Break-out room with Board members facilitating each room, French and English
  • Draft agenda to be circulated to board by Dec 9
• Looking ahead to ASTMH 2023
  • AMMnet will co-host the next malaria modelers meeting (like BMGF mini meeting 10/29). Plan for AMMnet to be more involved in planning the event than we were for 2022.
  • Special Events Committee or broaden so other committee members are involved?
  • Travel award(s)?
• Grand Challenges 2023 will be in Senegal
  • Possibly a good time for AMMnet meeting if consortia members are going?
  • If only PIs are invited, then may be less good
  • Best if there’s a 5-consortia convening that includes more consortium members, students, etc. At least some consortia will not enroll students until Aug/Sept 2023
• Dec 20 board meeting canceled
  • Review content for January seminar; in lieu of meeting, correspond via Slack
• Any other order(s) of business
  • What can we do more proactively to include 5 consortia 

5. Monthly seminar recap
   There was no seminar scheduled in November due to conflict with the ASTMH conference.

6. Celebrations
   Member publications, October-November 16:

Beshir KB, Muwanguzi J, Nader J, Mansukhani R, Traore A, Gamougam K, et al. Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum haplotypes associated with resistance to sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine and amodiaquine before and after upscaling of seasonal malaria chemoprevention in seven African countries: a genomic surveillance study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2022;0.https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00593-X

Cheng, N. I. et al. The impact of COVID-19 on implementation of mass testing, treatment and tracking of malaria in rural communities in Ghana: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE 17, e0275976 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275976 

Chinkhumba, J., Kadzinje, V., Jenda, G. et al. Impact of school-based malaria intervention on primary school teachers’ time in Malawi: evidence from a time and motion study. Malar J 21, 301 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04324-1 

Fadilah I, Djaafara BA, Lestari KD, Fajariyani SB, Sunandar E, Makamur BG, et al. Quantifying spatial heterogeneity of malaria in the endemic Papua region of Indonesia: Analysis of epidemiological surveillance data. The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia.(2022) ;5:100051.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lansea.2022.100051  

Githu, V., Baravuga, M.E., Mbarawa, A. et al. Comparative evaluation of different versions of exposure-free mosquito electrocuting traps and barrier screen trap for monitoring outdoor densities and biting time phenotypes by malaria and filariasis vectors in Tanzania. Parasites Vectors 15, 420 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-022-05549-4

Gore-Langton GR, Cano J, Simpson H, Tatem A, Tejedor-Garavito N, Wigley A, et al. Global estimates of pregnancies at risk of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infection in 2020 and changes in risk patterns since 2000. PLOS Global Public Health. 2022;2: e0001061. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001061 

Hassen, J., Alemayehu, G.S., Dinka, H. et al. High prevalence of Pfcrt 76T and Pfmdr1 N86 genotypes in malaria infected patients attending health facilities in East Shewa zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Malar J 21, 286 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04304-5 

Manga IA, BA MS, Tairou F et al. Malaria parasite carriage before and two years after the implementation of seasonal malaria chemoprevention: a case study of the Saraya health district, southern Senegal . Wellcome Open Res (2022), 7:179 https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17888.2  

Masserey, T., Penny, M.A. & Lee, T.E. Patient variability in the blood-stage dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum captured by clustering historical data. Malar J 21, 300 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04317-0

Mensah BA, Akyea-Bobi NE, Ghansah A. Genomic approaches for monitoring transmission dynamics of malaria: A case for malaria molecular surveillance in Sub–Saharan Africa. Frontiers in Epidemiology.(2022);2. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fepid.2022.939291

Morlighem, C.; Chaiban, C.; Georganos, S.; Brousse, O.; Van de Walle, J.; van Lipzig, N.P.M.; Wolff, E.; Dujardin, S.; Linard, C. The Multi-Satellite Environmental and Socioeconomic Predictors of Vector-Borne Diseases in African Cities: Malaria as an Example. Remote Sens.(2022), 14, 5381. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215381 

Mugenzi, L.M.J., Akosah-Brempong, G., Tchouakui, M. et al. Escalating pyrethroid resistance in two major malaria vectors Anopheles funestus and Anopheles gambiae (s.l.) in Atatam, Southern Ghana. BMC Infect Dis 22, 799 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-022-07795-4 

Nekkab N, Penny MA. Accelerated development of malaria monoclonal antibodies. Cell Rep Med. (2022 ) Oct 18;3(10):100786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100786 

Pryce J, Pilotte N, Menze B, Sirois AR, Zulch M, Agbor JP, et al. Integrated xenosurveillance of Loa loa, Wuchereria bancrofti, Mansonella perstans and Plasmodium falciparum using mosquito carcasses and faeces: A pilot study in Cameroon. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 2022;16: e0010868. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010868 

Soniran, O.T., Mensah, B.A., Cheng, N.I. et al. Improved adherence to test, treat, and track (T3) malaria strategy among Over-the-Counter Medicine Sellers (OTCMS) through interventions implemented in selected rural communities of Fanteakwa North district, Ghana. Malar J 21, 317 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04338-9