Upcoming PhD Defense for Gabrielle!!!

Congratulations to math.epi.lab member Gabrielle Turcotte who is set to defend her PhD on July 24, 2024!

Gabrielle’s research focuses on assessing the role of biosecurity in the equine industry with a focus on horses that compete in the Olympic disciplines in Ontario, Canada. She explores the complexities within this field through the use of surveys, isolation activities, and agent-based modelling.

She has worked very hard developing this research and we are all very proud of her! Thank you to Gabrielle’s co-supervisor Dr. Terri O’Sullivan, and her committee members, Dr. Kelsey Spence, and Dr. Charlotte Winder. We are also welcoming our external examiner Dr. Brandy Burgess to OVC for the day from the University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine.

Congratulations to Reilly and Kamal!

Both Reilly and Kamal have had their abstracts accepted for oral presentations at the upcoming ISVEE meeting. We will be heading out east to attend our first in-person conference since the start of the pandemic. We are looking forward to meeting up with all of our veterinary epidemiology colleagues from around the world in Halifax this summer.

Upcoming thesis defense for Lindsay!

Congratulations to Lindsay who is in the final stretch of her MSc with a defense scheduled for July 30, 2021. Thanks so much to our partners at Peel Public Health and to committee members Dr. Olaf Berke, Dr. Ashleigh Tuite, and Dr. David Fisman.

Congratulations to former mathepilab member Elissa Giang!

Elissa’s research from her master’s thesis has been published in Pathogens! Elissa developed a mathematical model to assess the effects of changes in host recruitment rate on Streptococcus suis incidence. The results show that monthly introduction of pigs into the nursery (instead of weekly introduction) reduced cumulative cases of S. suis by up to 59%, while increasing disease-removal rates alone averted up to 64% of cases. These findings suggest that modifications to host recruitment rates could be leveraged as a tool for S. suis disease control. Well done Elissa!

Congratulations Elissa!

Photo courtesy of Roksolana Hovdey

Congratulations to Elissa Giang for the successful defense of her master’s thesis! She was all smiles as she discussed her work on Streptococcus suis in swine and the use of mathematical models to simulate control strategies for reducing disease burden. Well done Elissa!

Congratulations Roxy!

Photo courtesy of Amy Greer

Congratulations to mathepilab member Roksolana Hovdey for the successful completion of her master’s thesis defense. Here she is discussing the environmental drivers and transmission dynamics of E. coli infection in humans. Well done Roxy!