AMMnet Annual Event in Senegal! See details inside
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Welcome to the January 2025 newsletter!
Please contact info@ammnet.org if you would like to contribute any items to next month’s newsletter.
Register for the AMMnet Monthly Seminar February 4, 2025, 15 hr UTC
To Target Malaria Elimination in Ghana: Myth or Reality?
Presenter: Frank Baiden
Elimination is the current goal of the malaria program in Ghana. This is premised on the observed considerable decline in the prevalence of parasitaemia and incidence of clinical cases in many parts of the country. Experience from other countries suggest that eliminating malaria in high-transmission settings is a daunting undertaking. Programs that pursue this path ought to appreciate the enormity of the task and the resources needed to achieve that target. In this presentation, Dr. Bainden will draw on the biology of the malaria parasite, the epidemiology of the disease at global and local levels, and the effectiveness of the currently-available tools to make the case for new tools and interventions.
Bio: Dr. Frank Baiden is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Dean of the Fred N Binka School of Public Health. Dr. Baiden was educated at the University of Ghana Medical School, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. For 15 years, he worked with the Ghana Health Service at the Navrongo and Kintampo Health Research Centres and with the World Health Organization in East Africa. He has taught and examined public health courses in Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries and has authored over 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is the lead author of the malaria chapter in the latest edition of the Oxford Textbook of Global Public Health.
Short Introduction to Sauki AI Tool
Presenter: Saratu Abiola
This presentation will cover what Sauki is, how it works, and how it can help researchers and others in their work.
Bio: Saratu, Project Lead for Sauki AI, is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in driving impactful projects across climate change, women's rights, economic development and technology in LMICs. She has a master's degree in New Media and Digital Cultures and is a former lecturer of Digital Studies at Vrije University in Amsterdam. She is skilled in stakeholder engagement, strategic communication, and innovative problem-solving.
AMMnet Annual Meeting in Senegal: Save the Date & Call for Abstracts & Trainings
From Data to Decisions for Policy and Practice
It is our pleasure to announce the upcoming AMMnet Annual Meeting, which will take place in Senegal during the week of June 23, 2025 (exact dates to be confirmed).
This year we are partnering with the RBM Partnership to End Malaria’s Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group (RBM SME WG) and holding consecutive meetings.
We are excited to bring together professionals and experts from the malaria analytics field to share insights, exchange ideas, and foster collaboration under this year's theme, From Data to Decisions for Policy and Practice.
To help us plan for the meeting, please let us know if you are planning or would like to attend by completing the interest form at the link below.
Please mark your calendars for this event and stay tuned for further updates and formal registration that will open soon. We look forward to your active involvement and contributions to make the 2025 AMMnet Annual Meeting a success.
Note: Presenters and instructors/trainers must attend the event in person. It will not be possible to present virtually.
ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS ABSTRACT SUBMISSION FORM
Please submit your ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS ABSTRACTS related to the theme, From Data to Decisions for Policy and Practice, including any topic related to practical applications of data, analytics, and/or modeling for malaria -- by February 17, 11:59 AM GMT.
A select number of travel awards for presenters and trainers will be offered by AMMnet. You will be asked whether you are interested in a travel award in the Abstract and Training submission forms along with your application information.
Travel awards will be prioritized for those with an accepted abstract and those organizing training sessions, and unfortunately, we do not expect to have funds available to support additional people.
The Gates Foundation will NOT be covering participant travel and accommodation expenses.
AMMnet Small Event Awards
17 applications were received from members in Kenya, Benin, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Rwanda!
The review task force has finished reviewing the applications and has chosen 6 awardees for funding.
Congratulations to our latest Small Event Awardees!
Chelsea Doe Quantitative Data for Decision Making (Q4D), Republic of Liberia For their event entitled, Fostering awareness about and generating interest for malaria modeling in Liberia.
Casam Njagi Nyaga Chuka University, Kenya For their event entitled, Training of trainers (TOT) workshop on applied malaria modeling and analytics.
Callistus Ireneous Nakpih C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Ghana For their event entitled, Utilising artificial intelligence approaches for malaria outbreak predictions in Ghana.
Punam Amratia Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania For their event entitled, From Data to Decisions: Empowering early career researchers in spatial modeling and malaria control.
Mohamed Isah Health World Organization, Cameroon For their event entitled, Malaria Spatial Modelling: Hands-on technical workshop on ArcGIS.
Selinnou Yahoue New World NGO, Benin For their event entitled, Raising awareness and fostering interest in modeling among future malaria control actors in Benin.
Submit your application before the next Small Event Award submission deadline -- March 1, 2025
Requirement Reminder: Applicants are expected to use and submit the template that can be found on our website by clicking the link below.
24 applications from members in Brazil, Nigeria, Cameroon, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Chad, Uganda, Benin, Ethiopia, DRC, Mozambique, Gambia, Guinea, Tanzania, Kenya, Burkina Faso
The review task force is currently reviewing the proposals and aim to choose 1-2 awardees. Thank you to everyone who has applied, and thanks for your patience as the task force reviews the proposals!
Submit your application before the next Large Event Award submission deadline -- April 15, 2025
Requirement Reminder: Applicants should submit a letter of support from each of the named personnel, confirming their participation and recognition of their role in the event.
The AMMnet Connecting Committee invites you provide your feedback to help them with seminar topics, meet-the modeler candidates, speaker options, and to assess member interests in upcoming monthly seminars and understand expectations for AMMnet’s future seminars. Your input will help the committee tailor the seminars to best support your professional interests.
Please select the link below and take a few moments to provide your insights, as these will be invaluable as the committee plans more seminars.
Join the AMMnet WhatsApp Group and connect directly with members, get announcements, including job, funding, collaborative opportunities and information about upcoming events.
Join the AMMnet Slack Workspace and connect directly with members, get announcements, including job, funding, collaborative opportunities and information about upcoming events.
Senior Research Scientist - Postdoc in Geospatial Modelling
2 positions available within the MAPS EA Node Project
Ifakara Health Institute is hiring! We are looking for qualified individuals to join the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) East Africa (EA) Node team as Senior Research Scientists.This role is open to PostDocs with expertise in advanced modeling to contribute to MAP EA Node’s mission of employing cutting-edge geospatial analytical methods to assess malaria risks and estimate its burden.
Applicants must hold a PhD in biostatistics, mathematics, or a related quantitative field, with a strong understanding of epidemiology.We strongly encourage applicants from Africa, especially females and those from malaria-endemic regions, to apply.
Application deadline: 17:00hrs (EAT) on Friday, January 31, 2025.
Postdoctoral Researcher Modelling Position Available at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center
The Global Health Resilience (GHR) group led by ICREA Research Professor Rachel Lowe at the BSC-CNS is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to co-create innovate modelling tools for impact attribution of climate-related health risks.The selected candidate will work within the Wellcome Trust funded project TACTIC (HealTh ImpAct ToolkIt for Climate change attribution).
The project will deliver a user-friendly and didactic digital toolkit comprising a series of resources tailored to the needs of policymakers, researchers and other professionals (public health, journalists, communication experts) to better comprehend, interpret and communicate findings and conduct new health impact attribution studies.
Together with partners in South America, Africa and Europe, the successful candidate will co-devise new methodologies to fill knowledge gaps on important but rarely assessed climate change related health impacts (chronic kidney disease, mental and perinatal health, and climate-sensitive infectious diseases) and explore inequalities (e.g., age, sex and socioeconomic status) associated with climate change.
Postdoctoral Scholar Position Available at UC Berkeley
The Department of Demography at the University of California, Berkeley, invites applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar position in the research group of Prof. Ayesha Mahmud. This position is part of a new NIH-funded project titled “Novel Data and Approaches for Dynamic Modeling of Human Behavior and Infectious Disease Ecology.” The successful candidate will work on several studies focused on understanding how human behavior and demographic dynamics interact with climate change to influence the spread and evolution of infectious diseases.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and will be accepted until February 15.
MIDAS Webinar Series | Friday, January 31, 1:00 - 2:00pm EST
MIDAS Webinar Series | Friday, January 31, 1:00 - 2:00pm EST Topic: NSF funding opportunities relevant to mathematical modeling of infectious diseases and applications to public health policy options
Speaker: Zhilan Feng, PhD
It will be presented some of the NSF funding opportunities relevant to mathematical modeling of infectious diseases. Particularly, the priorities and challenges as well as the important characteristics of strong proposals for specific funding opportunities. Examples include Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models (IHBEM), Mathematical Modeling of Policy Options for Evolving Public Health Challenges (MPOPHC), Emerging Mathematics in Biology (eMB), etc.
Subgroups, Working Groups, and Regional Activities
Congratulations to Liberia Local Chapter!
Liberia’s local chapter is the first official AMMnet local chapter!
Liberia’s local chapter leaders will be attending the next Best Practices for Starting a Local Chapter Task Force, scheduled for February 18, 12:30 UTC to discuss their experience in establishing their local chapter.
Please join if you are interested in sharing your experiences and learning from others.
Contact us at info@ammnet.org to receive a calendar invitation with Zoom link.
Guidelines for Establishing an AMMnet Local Chapter
AMMnet’s Local Chapters bring together modelers, analysts, scientists, public health professionals, partner institutions and civil society, to work together locally to adopt common approaches to improve the use of modeling and analytics for controlling and eliminating malaria whilst reflecting the mission of Global AMMnet.
Establishing a local AMMnet chapter is a three-step process:
Pre-registration with global AMMnet
A completed Local Chapter Establishment Application Form
AMMnet Board approval with guidance from the Local Chapter Review Task Force
If you are an AMMnet member and you are interested in establishing a local chapter, please refer the information and guidelines found at the link below.
If you have any questions, considerations or suggestions for establishing local AMMnet chapters, please send us an email at info@ammnet.org.
21 AMMnet local chapters are in the process of establishment. Refer to the list of those local chapters below and their stage of establishment.
Local Chapters with Establishment in Process
Local Chapter Application Received and Under Review
Uganda
Zambia
Cameroon
Establishment in Process
Nigeria
Tanzania
Burkina Faso
Senegal
Malawi
Guinea
Central African Republic
Benin
Djibouti
Kenya
DRC
Ghana
Horn of Africa-Ethiopia
Mali
Togo
Niger
Guinea-Bissau
Mozambique
Send an inquiry to info@ammnet if you feel your local chapter has not been included by mistake or if you wish to be connected with a local chapter contact.
The Uganda local chapter is promoting weekly webinar via google meet with the aim of Building a foundational understanding of R and its basic operations.
Prerequisites: No prior experience with R is required, but familiarity with basic statistics is recommended.
2025 January 7 Lessons Learned from Organizing and Hosting Regional Events Speakers: Olawale Awe, Keller Alphonse Konkon, Ezra Gayawan and Sompob Saralamba
The 2025 AMMnet seminar series kicked off on Tuesday, January 7th with four presentations from AMMnet Small Event awardees. We heard from Sampob Saralamba about a two-day short course put on at Mahodol University, Thailand to teach the RShiny package. The feedback from the course was very positive and participants succeeded in creating basic RShiny apps. Keller Konkon then presented on a Benin event introducing researchers involved in vector control to modeling for operational decision-making. He emphasized the importance of the organization and recruiting process, including involving experts in the field and from the PNLP/NMCP. Olawale Awe described how a Small Event Award was used in a three-day workshop at IMECC, Brazil, which focused on integrating AI and machine learning for malaria and infectious disease modeling. This workshop also served as the inaugural meeting for the AMMnet local chapter in Brazil. Finally, Ezra Gayawan shared experiences from a two-day training he facilitated at Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. Participants were introduced to geospatial modeling and how the methods can be applied to public health topics.
Presenters reported positive feedback from participants in post-event surveys, and some described continuing to provide technical assistance even after their courses. Common challenges arose when the Small Event Award was used for training, including difficulty accommodating the needs of all participants with a wide range of backgrounds and skills, which limited in the amount of material that could be addressed within a single event. Other challenges included inability to host longer workshops or travel accommodations with the available budget. At the close of the seminar, Jaline Gerardin provided some suggestions for groups interested in applying for Small Event Awards in the future, including types of events that could be funded and tips for improving applicant's chance of being approved and funded.
You may find recordings of these seminars on our website or YouTube along with recordings from other past special events and seminars.
Recordings in French, English and Portuguese are available.
