Neil Ferguson MD

Professor Ferguson's research aims to improve understanding of the epidemiological factors and population processes shaping infectious disease spread in human and animal populations. A key practical focus is the analysis and optimisation of intervention strategies aimed at limiting disease spread – whether within a host population or within an infected individual. This work has the applied goal of aiding disease control policy making in the public health, clinical and veterinary contexts. Also, from an ecological perspective, the effect of interventions is often to perturb the dynamics of pathogen spread and the nature of the dynamical response to such perturbation often gives valuable information on fundamental population dynamic and genetic processes.