Newsletter: March 2023

Welcome to the March newsletter!

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
Seminar recap and recordings

Special announcements

AMMnet awardees to host local in-person AMMnet events in Cameroon and Nigeria!
Congratulations to AMMnet members Ezra Gayawan, Federal University of Technology in Nigeria, and Ivan Misonge, University of Dschang, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), who have been awarded funding to host local events in Nigeria and Cameroon:

Nigeria event: Hands-on training on the application of geospatial models to public health data event
Cameroon event: National Conference on Malaria Modeling in Cameroon: AMMnet Regional Event.

This funding opportunity remains open! AMMnet would like to encourage the growth of regional AMMnet chapters and is looking to support small regional in-person AMMnet events such as meetings, conferences, or workshops. AMMnet will fund up to 10 regional events annually, each with a budget range of $500 to $3,000.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and in English, French, or Portuguese. More information and application instructions are available here: English, French, Portuguese.

AMMnet Special Event: Geospatial Analysis and Spatial-temporal Modelling Webinar March 30th
This webinar will showcase the development, uptake, and adoption of geospatial analysis and spatial-temporal modelling tools and techniques within the malaria modelling community that strengthen malaria surveillance, control and management in countries impacted by malaria. This webinar highlights the work of both junior and senior researchers working in the field of geospatial modeling.

Thursday 30th March 2023, 14:00-16:00 GMT/UTC

Moderators:

Emma Fairbanks (Swiss Tropical and Public Health, Switzerland) and William Wasswa (Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda)

Speakers:

Toussaint Rouamba, Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro, Burkina Faso

Robert Zupko, Pennsylvania State University, USA

Tasmin Symons, Malaria Atlas Project, Telethon Kids Institute, Australia

Amelia Bertozzi-Villa, Institute for Disease Modeling, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA

AMMnet Monthly Seminar Series: Join us on April 4, 15:00 GMT
Anna Bershteyn, Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU School of Medicine, is our guest speaker who will lead the seminar. Her modeling research focuses on HIV transmission dynamics and impact evaluation of biomedical and programmatic improvements to HIV care and prevention. We look forward to seeing you there virtually.

Save the Date and Call for Abstracts: AMMnet Pre-ASTMH Modeling Meeting October 17!
We are thrilled to announce that AMMnet will hold an in-person 1-day meeting on October 17, 2023, in Chicago, USA, ahead of the ASTMH annual meeting. The AMMnet meeting will include talks, a poster session, small group discussions, and an evening social event. The scientific theme of the meeting is “Use of data in modeling.”

If you would like to submit an abstract for a talk or poster, please submit it here by May 1. You are welcome to submit the same abstract as for the ASTMH conference. In June, we will send notifications of abstract acceptance.

We are hoping to offer a few travel awards of up to $3,500 and will make an announcement when we have more information.

Look for more details to come in the coming months.

Special Event recordings are available if you missed them!

February 28 Recording of AMMnet Symposium on Approaching Elimination with Modeling and Serological Tools
If you missed the series of short talks from Michael White, Chris Drakeley, Jessie Khaki, and Isaac Quaye on quantitative and serological approaches to achieving elimination for malaria and other diseases. Talks covered novel diagnostics and their use at population level as well as the use of geospatial and mathematical models to assess risk and evaluate intervention packages.

March 7 Recording of Special 2-hour Panel Discussion on Running Effective Hands-on Modeling Workshops
If you were unable to attend this virtual special event where panelists shared their experiences, advice, and best practices around running workshops. Notes from the discussion are available in English, French, and Portuguese.

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

Workshops and Conferences

The Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) Symposium
Please save the date for the IDM Annual Symposium, which will be held May 22-24, 2023 at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Conference Center in Seattle, Washington.

IDM is now accepting abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations. Interested presenters are encouraged to submit abstracts on the following theme: Frontiers in Modeling & Data Science for Global Health.

To submit your abstract, please click here. Abstract submission deadline: March 31, 2023, 11:59 PM (PST).

AMMnet attendees and local AMMnet members are invited to an informal social event on the evening of May 24. Details to come!

Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute Conferences
Blood Stage Malaria Symposium: Staving Off the Firestorm
Event date: 25 April 2023
For more information, check the event website here.

2023 Baltimore Vector Encounter: Save the date
June 15th and June 16th, 2023
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
For more information, check the event website here.

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.

Courses

Scholarship opportunities available for the University of Washington Biostatistics Summer Institutes.
Scholarship applications are now being accepted for in-person short courses for the:

Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics (SISG), July 10-28, 2023

Summer Institute in Statistics and Modeling in Infectious Diseases (SISMID), July 10-26, 2023

All SISG and SISMID courses will be held in-person at the University of Washington campus in Seattle, except SISG Module 17: Forensic Genetics, which will be held online.

Learn more and apply here.

Essential Grant Writing Skills Programme June/July 2023 – submit before the deadline of March 31st
The Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF) is calling for applications from scientists who are active, emerging biomedical/health researchers in Sub-Saharan African countries to participate in its Essential Grant Writing Skills Programme.

This fully on-line programme will be held over eight 3-hour sessions during the weeks of 5th June 2023 and 24th July 2023.

To fully benefit from this programme series, you will be at a stage in your research career where you are actively seeking independent funding, and perhaps have won smaller grants, but have yet to secure that big grant necessary to support your research independence.

Find more information and how to apply at the link here.

Fellowship Opportunity

Global Computational & Data Science Fellowship for Master’s/PhD students

Eligibility:

Either currently enrolled in a graduate program or accepted to begin in one no later than October 15
Pursuing a graduate degree – Master’s, PhD, or equivalent – in computational or data science (although the formal name of the program may be somewhat different)
Completed less than half of her/his planned program of study (with preference given to students who are still early in their studies)
A woman and/or a member of a racial/ethnic group that is currently underrepresented in the computing field in the country where the student will earn the degree

Benefits:

Annual stipend of $15,000 USD for remainder of degree (up to 4 years – award amount adjusted using national price level ratio if outside US)
Paid travel to annual Supercomputing conference (“SC”)

Application (nomination from research advisor, CV, candidate statement, and 1 brief recommendation letter) due April 30th. Find more information here.

Grant Opportunities

Regional AMMnet Event Grant
We are thrilled to announce the first open funding opportunity for AMMnet members. AMMnet would like to encourage the growth of regional AMMnet chapters and is looking to support small regional in-person AMMnet events such as meetings, conferences, or workshops. AMMnet will fund up to 10 regional events annually, each with a budget range of $500 to $3,000.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and in English, French, or Portuguese. More information and application instructions are available here: English, French, Portuguese.

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

AMMnet board
The board met on March 28.

March 28 Board meeting notes:

Present: Jaline Gerardin, Emilie Pothin, Luc Djogbenou, Caitlin Bever, Hannah Slater, Cherlynn Dumbura, Justin Millar, Manuela Runge, and Shannon Stanfill

Absent: Emmanuel Bakare, Ousmane Diallo

Agenda:

Terms of Reference
- Role of the Secretariat
  - Shannon and Jaline to Draft in ToR and will share with Luc for revisions and comments; final to share with Board
- Timeline
  - 3/21-4/14 Governance Committee to revise with comments
  - 4/18 Board vote on final draft ToR
  - 5/2 Present ToR to membership for “all member vote”: if yes from membership, implement (translated into Portuguese and French)
  - 6/6 Backup date for presenting ToR to membership
- Election process will be added into ToR, including more details
- Additions will be included by end of week of April 3
- Translation
Francophone support
- First live interpretation: March 7 2-hour panel discussion on running effective hands-on modeling workshops.
  - Shannon to ask interpreters if there is a way to track number of individuals using French language
  - Shannon to send video/French audio to Cedric to review for accuracy
- French administrator update
  - 4 candidates interviewed
  - Decision made
    - Ida is the chosen candidate
    - Expect to finalize next week
    - Operations at NU are planned
    - Plan for April start
    - Shannon will get her acquainted with role and share all materials and activities; plan to have call week of April 3
Lusophone support
- Portuguese translation completed and ongoing: website, emails, newsletters, and membership form
Social media and Website Committee
- Discussed appointing interim chair or folding role into secretariat
- Serve as a hub for information sharing
- Task Force/Chair/Committee serves as lead for social media strategy
- Continue as is until June
Regional AMMnet events
- 6 applications received
  - 1 funded: Ethiopia
  - 2 NOA sent: Nigeria and Cameroon
  - 2 revisions in review: Thailand and Ghana
  - AMMnet Senegal interested, can apply in French
AMMnet Africa 2023 task force updates
- 5-7th September, Kigali
- Meeting in April to discuss content
- Secretariat can email a “save the date” if needed
- BMGF offering some support
Pre-ASTMH Modeling Meeting task force updates
- Travel awards: Finance Committee to meet and discuss both pre-ASTMH event and AMMnet Africa
- Sending out Save the Date and abstract submission form this week
- First BMGF events planning meeting was 3/15
- Tentative social event location selected
Committee Structure
- Implementation: how will old committees transform into new committees
  - Training, Workshops -> Learning
  - Data, Values -> Best practices
  - Seminars, Social -> Connecting
  - Francophone -> subgroup
  - Membership -> secretariat/board
Committee updates, if any
- Membership: Over 300 members to date
- Seminars:
  - Upcoming meetings:
    - April 4: Anna Bershteyn: Presenting on the HIV modeling consortium
    - May 2: General Assembly on Terms of Reference
    - June 6: Charles Wondji
    - July 11: SMC Webinar (tentative)
    - August 1: TBD
  - Seminar back-up plan
  - Special Events-Workshops-Seminar Coordination
- Workshops-Special Events:
  - Geospatial Workshop March 30
    - Planning led by Emma Fairbanks and William Wasswa
- Social:
  - LinkedIn: 212 followers
  - Facebook: 116 followers
  - Twitter: 617 followers
- Training:
  - Working on a questionnaire to assess needs for training and training offers
  - Looking for 5 AMMnet ambassadors to discuss with the 5 capacity strengthening grant challenges grantees
- Values:
  - No updates
- Data:
  - Get task force started for activities
- Francophone:
  - See above
Any other order(s) of business
- World Malaria Day
  - Twitter post
  - Announcement from regional groups
    - We will reach out to groups and ask for twitter handle, recognize them
    - 5 consortia/grand challenges, draft tweets, get their handle and approval
      - Cameroon
      - Nigeria
      - WAMCAD
      - MaModAfrica
      - MMLA

Seminar recap and recordings

March 7 Special 2-hour Panel Discussion on Running Effective Hands-on Modeling Workshops
If you were unable to attend this virtual special event where panelists shared their experiences, advice, and best practices around running workshops, you may find the recording in English and in French. Also, you may find notes from the discussion here in English, French, and Portuguese.

Newsletter: March 2023

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