Dear AMMnet,
Welcome to the December newsletter! All of us at AMMnet wish all of you a Happy New Year! We look forward to connecting you to resources and each other in the coming new year.
Please contact info@ammnet.org if you would like to contribute any items to next month’s newsletter!
Contents:
- Special announcements
- Jobs, workshops, conferences, and opportunities
- Working group announcements
- Board and committee announcements
- Monthly seminar recap
- Special announcements
Opportunities to get more involved with AMMnet
We have two task force opportunities for AMMnet members to help organize in-person events in 2023. We are looking for a mix of junior and senior members and up to 10 people per task force. Please email info@ammnet.org if you are interested in joining the task force for either of these events:
- In-person AMMnet meeting in Africa in 2023. Looking for volunteers to help set the location, timing, agenda, speaker list, participant list, etc.
- In-person AMMnet meeting pre-ASTMH in Chicago, USA, in October 2023. Looking for volunteers to help set the agenda and speaker list.
Join us on January 10 for the next seminar!
Guest Speaker: Dr. Shufang Zhang, Global Fund
For our next seminar, Dr. Shufang Zhang, a senior advisor at the Global Fund, will provide us with insight into how modeling is incorporated into the Global Fund’s country and portfolio decisions.
Professor Luc Djogbénou is our featured “meet the modeler” guest speaker. He is an Associate Professor, head of Health–Environment Department and head of the Laboratory of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases in Institut Régional de Santé Publique/University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin.
Note a change in our typical seminar schedule. January 10 is the second Tuesday of the month, but our subsequent monthly seminars are scheduled the first Tuesday of each month.
New additions to AMMnet.org!
Look for website updates on both the Resources and Membership website pages.
- The Training and Exchange Committee has gathered and compiled a list of training resources, located here in English and here in French. If you have a resource to add to this list, please send an email to info@ammnet.org.
- The Values and Guidance Committee has provided a guideline for best practices in engaging with national malaria control programs, found here in English, here in French.
- The Membership Committee has provided a visual representation of our membership including geographic spread and type of affiliation. You may find this here on our website.
Thank you to our members who participated in these committees and contributed your time!
Workshop and Training Program Panel Discussion
AMMnet is organizing a panel discussion among people who have run workshops or training programs in modeling, to reflect on what worked well and what didn’t. We are looking for panelists! Please email info@ammnet.org if this is you or if you have suggestions.
Join the AMMnet Slack workspace
If you haven’t joined the AMMnet slack workspace, join here! Many announcements, including job opportunities and upcoming events, are posted first on the Slack. This is also a great place to connect directly with other modelers!
- Jobs, workshops, conferences, and opportunities
Jobs
Infectious Disease Modeler open position at Swiss TPH!
The position consists in developing and applying models to provide support to National Malaria Control Programs in African countries and more. The team focuses on developing and applying analytical solutions to support evidence-based decision making processes in malaria endemic countries. Country-specific analyses of malaria data and simulations of malaria dynamics and intervention impact are used to understand and represent malaria situations in countries in order to provide evidence required by the National Malaria Control Programs. This is an exciting opportunity for those who want to combine their analytical skills, leadership and country experience, while making a direct impact.
Anyone interested should have a look at the job description and apply online here if further interested.
Have a look at the SwissTPH website here if you’d like to explore other open positions.
Postdoc positions open with Northwestern University modeling group
We are seeking up to 2 postdocs to work on projects related to:
- Within-host model development and
- Malaria intervention policy.
If interested, please send cover letter and CV to malariamodeling@northwestern.edu
Workshops and Conferences
AMMnet Repository for Modeling Workshops
AMMnet is planning to host a repository of past modeling workshops. If you would like more information or you have materials to contribute (such as syllabi or other materials), please reach out to info@ammnet.org.
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.
- 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!
- Board and committee announcements
No December Board Meeting
Due to the holiday, there will be no formal board meeting in December. The next formal Board meeting will take place on January 17, 2023. We will share a summary of this meeting with you in the January newsletter.
Board Strategy Discussions
During December, the Board has held two formal meetings, for a total of about eight hours, to reflect on the objectives of the organization, set goals for the coming years, and draft a Terms of Reference document to describe governance of AMMnet. During these discussions, the Board revisited the AMMnet mission statement, vision and objectives, and revised these to reflect our current and future membership. We will share these with you soon! The Board also discussed roles, composition, term limits, performance evaluation, succession planning, and operations around the Board, Board Chair, Committees, Task Forces, Subgroups, and Advisory Board/Council. Discussions will continue around restructuring the committees to include task forces so they may be better positioned to reach the goals of our network and meet your expectations as members.
The Board will continue to meet and share meeting summaries and conclusions with you, our members. Look for our next meeting with members mid-year 2023 where we’ll discuss our strategy discussion outcomes with you and ask for your feedback.
- Monthly seminar recap: December 6 all-member strategy discussion
The December 6 seminar was a special session where we invited members to provide us with their input as we move forward as a network. There were about 25 participants in attendance.
During 2022, AMMnet formed and quickly grew to almost 300 members. This growth has prompted AMMnet to take this opportunity and reflect with our members, evaluate the objectives of the network, and set goals for the future. During these discussions, we asked you, our members, “What do we want to achieve?” and “What are our hopes and dreams for AMMnet?” Participants in the discussion split up into four small groups and talked about learning and training, modeling best practices, member engagement, and big ideas for AMMnet.
You may find notes from the meeting here. Please leave any comments directly on the document. We especially welcome feedback from members who were not able to attend!
January 10 Seminar!
For our next seminar, Dr. Shufang Zhang, a senior advisor at the Global Fund, will provide us with insight into how modeling is incorporated into the Global Fund’s country and portfolio decisions. Professor Luc Djogbénou is our featured “meet the modeler” guest speaker. He is an Associate Professor, head of Health–Environment Department and head of the Laboratory of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases in Institut Régional de Santé Publique/University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin.