Dear AMMnet,

Welcome to the May newsletter! We are delighted to share that AMMnet now has an official Terms of Reference document, available in English, French, and Portuguese!

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

Contents:

1. Special announcements
2. Jobs and grant opportunities 
3. Workshops and conferences 
4. Courses and learning opportunities
5. Working group announcements
6. Seminar recap and recordings
7. Board meeting summary and committee announcements

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1. Special announcements

AMMnet Terms of Reference approved
AMMnet members voted to approve the AMMnet Terms of Reference document, available in English, French, and Portuguese.

If you missed the General Assembly meeting on May 2 when the Terms of Reference were presented, the slide deck is available here; recordings are available here (English) and here (French).

A big thank you to everyone who participated in discussions, contributed ideas, asked questions, and/or voted!

Travel Awards for October 2023 AMMnet and ASTMH meetings: Applications due by June 1
AMMnet is pleased to offer travel awards for AMMnet members to attend the ASTMH conference and the pre-ASTMH AMMnet malaria modelers meeting in Chicago, USA, October 17-22, 2023.

The award will cover up to US $4,200 in expenses, including flights, accommodation, and the ASTMH registration fee. We expect to give 4 awards.

You may find more details and how to apply on the AMMnet website in English, French, or Portuguese.

AMMnet Monthly Seminar Series: Join us on June 6, 15:00 GMT
Look for more details about our next speaker to come via email. We look forward to seeing you there virtually. 

Upcoming webinar co-hosted by AMMnet and SMC Alliance
Webinar on modeling SMC in the context of national malaria strategic planning and Global Fund applications

Save the Date and Time:
July 25, 2023
14h UTC

This webinar will discuss how NMCPs approach SMC during their subnational intervention planning process, national malaria strategic plan development, and resource mobilization plans from the Global Fund and others. Mathematical modeling is increasingly being used to inform these discussions, including providing impact estimates of adding cycles, expanding the eligible age range, and expanding to new districts. 

The webinar will open with a presentation of the overall process of subnational targeting of interventions and the context for modeling with a special focus on SMC. Next, individual modeling groups that have supported this process will present the assumptions and approaches that go into their SMC models. This will be followed by an example from an NMCP illustrating their SMC targeting approach and how modeling informed their discussions. The session will conclude with a presentation on how decisions on SMC have been made in Global Fund funding requests.

Registration and zoom details to follow.

Please note: This special event will replace our July 11 and August 1 monthly seminars; you should have received a cancellation for these two dates.

Join the AMMnet Board
We are looking for two new members to join AMMnet’s Board. AMMnet’s Board sets the strategic vision of AMMnet, ensures the ongoing viability of AMMnet, and ensures AMMnet maintains focus on its mission, vision, and values. Current Board priorities include implementing the new Terms of Reference, developing more opportunities for member interaction, and expanding regional engagement through locally-led chapters.

Who can apply
We are looking for diverse perspectives on the Board, including both senior people and people who are early in their careers and eager to learn more about organizational management. We especially welcome interest from people living in malaria-endemic countries, where most of our membership is based.

Benefits
Benefits of joining AMMnet’s Board include expanding your network, travel support to in-person Board meetings, and, of course, leadership opportunities.

Expectations
The Board meets every 2 months, and Board members are expected to remain engaged between meetings through the AMMnet Slack. Board members are expected to take on leadership roles elsewhere in AMMnet, such as participating actively in committees and task forces. Full responsibilities of Board members are described in the Terms of Reference.

How to apply
If you are interested in joining the Board, please send to info@ammnet.org by June 15:

• 1 paragraph (maximum 300 words) on who you are and why you would like to join the Board, including your motivation for applying and any perspective or vision you would like to share on what should be accomplished by AMMnet
• 1 paragraph (maximum 150 words) on your past engagement with AMMnet, such as attendance and participation in seminars or meetings, activity on committees, regional AMMnet involvement, event award application, and/or other ways in which you have engaged with AMMnet

We accept applications in English, French, or Portuguese.

Next steps
AMMnet’s Governance Committee will create a shortlist of nominees for election by the general AMMnet membership in late June.

Please do not hesitate to contact the AMMnet Board with any questions!

Looking for AMMnet members interested in co-hosting a course on malaria gene drive modeling

The African Genetic Biocontrol Consortium will be hosting the 1st Global Congress on New and Emerging Genetic Biocontrol Technologies to take place in Nairobi from August 28 to September 2, 2023. The aim of the Congress is to bring together experts from around the world to share learnings across diverse disciplines related to genetic biocontrol technologies. The Congress is preceded by three full days of intensive Pre-Conference Workshops/ Symposia/ Courses. 

AMMnet member Willy Kiprotich Tonui is looking for people interested in co-hosting a Pre-conference course on malaria gene drive modeling. Please contact him at wtonui@gmail.com if you are interested!

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!

2. Jobs and grant opportunities

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships at York University, Toronto, Canada: Three open Postdoctoral Research Fellowship positions that can begin as early as June 1, 2023 
Looking for applicants with strong research skills and experience in one of the three thematic areas: 

• Artificial Intelligence for Infectious Disease Prediction, Geospatial Analysis and Risk map assessment, GIS AI
• The STI impacts of one-health mathematical modelling approach to Mpox and (re)emerging zoonotic threats
• Clinical public health infectious epidemiology and modelling

This research is chaired by Woldegebriel Assefa Woldegerima and is sponsored by a research grant from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR). The successful candidates will have the opportunity to be co-supervised by Sarah Flicker, Ali Asgary, Jianhong Wu, Jude Kong, James Orbinski and Nicola Bragazzi.

For more information and to apply, visit the link here. 

Corona Management Systems Malaria Modelling Fellowship Opportunity
Malaria Modelling Fellowship (MMF) is an initiative to build the mathematical modelling capacity of public health professionals in Nigeria. The Fellowship will expose participants to a comprehensive curriculum that includes core modelling content, in-depth knowledge of malaria epidemiology including transmission dynamics, and adjunct modules crucial to enhancing their careers and equipping them with in-demand modelling competence. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Fellowship is a collaborative effort between Corona Management Systems (CMS), National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), and the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Application deadline is May 24! 

You may find out more information from the website here. Go here to apply.

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.

3. Workshops, webinars and conferences

Save the Date: AMMnet Pre-ASTMH Modeling Meeting October 17! 
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.” More information is coming soon.

US-RSE Conference 2023: Software Enabled Discovery and Beyond
This conference is for those who regularly use expertise in programming to advance research.This includes researchers who spend a significant amount of time programming, full-time software engineers writing code to solve research problems, and those somewhere in-between. We aspire to apply the skills and practices of software development to research to create more robust, manageable, and sustainable research software. 

Poster / Talk abstracts due: Monday, June 19, 2023

Conference Date: October 16-18, 2023, Chicago, IL

You may find out more information about the conference here. 

African Genetic Biocontrol Consortium: 1st Global Congress On Emerging Genetic Biocontrol Technologies
The African Genetic Biocontrol Consortium is delighted to announce the 1st Global Congress on New and Emerging Genetic Biocontrol Technologies. 

Location: Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya

Dates: August 28-Sept 02, 2023 

Includes:

• Three full days of intensive Pre-Conference Workshops/Symposia/Courses
• Three full days of the state-of-the-art keynotes, papers, and panel discussions
• Exhibits on genetic biocontrol products and services.
• Invaluable networking

You may find more information on the website here and here.

4. Courses and Learning Opportunities

MOOC modelling infectious diseases
In this online MOOC you will learn a basic, yet very general approach to mathematical modeling of infectious disease dynamics.

Where: online

Brought to you by Institut Pasteur.

For more information, go to the website here; to register, navigate to the link here.

Introduction to Mathematical Models of the Epidemiology & Control of Infectious Diseases: An interactive short course for professionals
11th – 22nd September 2023

Taught by leading researchers who advise policy-makers internationally. Topics include HIV, TB, malaria, Ebola, COVID-19, health economics, vaccination programmes, stochastic models & more.

Free Maths and Excel Refresher Day: 10th September 2023

Cost: £2250 before 1st June 2023, £2500 after.

Applications for 2023 are now open!

Find more information here.

Contact: Dr Lilith Whittles or Dr Clare McCormack

Email: infectiousdiseasemodels@imperial.ac.uk

5. Working group announcements

Global Alliance for Immune Prediction and Intervention (GLIMPRINT) has Officially Launched
GLIMPRINT is a nonprofit organization (501 (c)(3)) that emerged from the IMAG/MSM Working Group on Multiscale Modeling and Viral Pandemics. The working group, which has grown to nearly 300 members over the last couple of years, will continue to focus on its initial mission of multiscale modeling and viral infections. GLIMPRINT’s mission focuses on the broader immune system using emerging modeling technologies, namely medical digital twins.

The GLIMPRINT member community is already growing since its “soft” launch earlier this year, and we are cordially inviting you to join the community. Individual and institutional membership information is available on our website here. If you decide to join GLIMPRINT, please also fill out this questionnaire so that we can share your expertise and work with the rest of the community.

We also invite you to our biweekly webinars related to medical digital twins, multi-scale modeling, viral pandemics, and the immune system, co-organized by GLIMPRINT and the IMAG/MSM Working Group.

6. Seminar recap and recordings

May 2 Seminar: AMMnet General Assembly
Our May 2 Seminar was a General Assembly with our AMMnet members where the Terms of Reference and our enhanced organizational structure were presented. You may find a copy of the slide deck here; recordings are available here in English and here in French.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in discussions, contributed ideas, asked questions, and/or voted!

7. Board and committee announcements

AMMnet board
The board met on May 16. 

Present: Emmanuel Bakare, Caitlin Bever, Cherlynn Dumbura, Jaline Gerardin, Justin Millar, Manuela Runge, Hannah Slater

Absent: Luc Djogbenou, Emilie Pothin

Secretariat present: Ida Sagbo, Shannon Stanfill

Minutes:

• Board membership
  • Election of new board members: two seats open (formerly Tatiana and Ousmane)
    • Last meeting: voted to fill Tatiana’s seat
  • Vote to approve/not approve filling Ousmane’s seat
    • Voted Yea: upcoming election will be for 2 board members
  • Vote whether to waive the requirement (just for this election) that new Board members must have previous Committee experience
    • Voted Yea: new Board members this time do not need to have previous Committee experience
  • Board election/nomination and criteria at next meeting, continue discussion from last meeting
    • Normally this would be handled by Governance Committee, but we aren’t up and running with new Committee structure yet, so for now we’ll handle with full Board
    • Solicitation email
      • Current Board priorities
      • Emphasize perks (network expansion), travel support to in-person Board meeting, leadership opportunities
      • Need strong LMIC representation
      • Communicate need for both senior and junior leadership when recruiting/electing for the Board
      • Ask people to send 1 paragraph on who they are and why they would like to join the Board (<300 words) and 1 paragraph on their past engagement with AMMnet (<150 words)
        • Could highlight attendance at seminars, activity on committees, event grant awardee, reflecting engagement with AMMnet
        • Motivation for applying, perspective/vision of what should be accomplished within AMMnet
      • Next Steps: Secretariat will draft email and review with GovCom
    • GovCom to review self-nominated and Board-nominated candidates and generate shortlist
    • Timing
      • if we need to arrange a visa for Oct 17 in person Board, we need as much advance notice as possible
      • nomination over 1 month (mid June), then vote in a week. GovCom would need to move fast with shortlisting
    • Special General Assembly + vote or vote by email?
      • Decision = Email vote
    • Board members’ nominations
• Implementing new committee structure
  • All committees meet at minimum every 2 months
  • ToR: “Committee statement of purpose. The Governance Committee will draft the objective(s) of each Objectives Committee. The Objectives Committees will refine their objective(s) into a statement of purpose, which will be approved by the Board. The statement of purpose will be used to guide each Committee’s mission and scope of activities.”
  • Proposal: Governance Committee and full Board alternate months, in this time slot
    • Jun 20, Aug 15, Oct 17 (in person), Dec 19: Board
    • Jul 18, Sep 19, Nov 21: GovCom
    • Agreed
  • Governance
    • Caitlin, Emilie, Hannah, Luc, Jaline (Chair)
    • will draft objectives offline via Slack and aim to pass along to ObjCom chairs by Jun 20 at the latest
    • will review nominated candidates and generate shortlist
    • July 18
      • will discuss adding an additional member
      • will discuss Board Chair-elect
  • Finance
    • Hannah (Chair), Emilie, Jaline, Cherlynn
    • Planned next steps:
      • budget update for Q2 and review offline
      • meet again in Q3 -> will decide on a date
  • Connecting (includes Seminars, Social former committees)
    • Caitlin (Chair), Cherlynn, Manuela
    • Planned next steps:
      • consolidate activities of seminar and social, figure out which maintained and which streamlined, who will still be involved / who will be recruited
      • proposal: old seminar committee becomes Connecting committee
      • some people are more focused on some aspects than others; social part will be task force
      • continue monthly meetings
        • For first meeting: discuss both seminars and social in same meeting
        • Consider every other month meeting schedule: overall strategy/primary connecting committee meeting alternating with seminar committee
        • Every second month set aside to focus on social
      • action item: find someone for Twitter; Laurette and Isaiah are interested in being more active
  • Learning, Career Dev, and Best Practices Committees: Discuss at June Board meeting
• Other ToR implementations – Discuss at June Board meeting
  • Jaline and Shannon will meet and list out what needs to be done and when, for review and discussion at next board meeting
• Discuss requests for supporting others’ events
  • MAP and Vector Atlas Partnership and travel awards
    • 3-day Spatial Data Visualization and Modeling pre-PAMCA conference training workshop
    • $3900 each award to cover travels, accommodation for 3 (preconference) + 5(conference) days and other costs
    • Proposed that AMMnet support 5 awards
  • African Genetic Biocontrol Consortium 1st Global Congress on New and Emerging Genetic Biocontrol Technologies
    • partnering with AMMNET to host a Pre-conference course on malaria gene drive modeling
    • support to bring participants to the Pre-conference (3 days of workshops)
  • Budget perspective from Finance Committee: we have no unobligated budget remaining for this year or next year
  • Considerations
    • Should reflect how this will grow AMMnet
    • Conflicts of interest (other funders) / double-dipping
    • Discuss with our AMMnet funder whether they would be interested in our funding things like this
  • Vote on whether we would consider this kind of sponsorship in the future on a case by case basis, or whether it should be AMMnet policy that we do not do these kinds of sponsorships:
    • Voted Yea: consider future requests for sponsorship on a case-by-case basis
  • Vote on supporting MAP workshop from AMMnet funds:
    • Voted Nay: AMMnet should not support any travel awards for this workshop
  • Vote on supporting Genetic Biocontrol workshop from AMMnet funds: Voted Nay, but some interest
    • Voted Nay: AMMnet should not support any travel awards for this workshop
• Plan for in-person Board meeting around ASTMH
  • Proposal: Oct 17 at the AMMnet meeting, after close of scientific program and before social event. Alternatively, do it in parallel with the poster session.