Ecological modelling and disease ecology in marine systems
Ecosystems consist of complex relationships among hosts and pathogens that challenge traditional views of human and terrestrial disease processes. A better understanding of marine disease dynamics via modeling is essential for example to evaluate the influence of anthropogenic (e.g. pollution, fishing) and climatological drivers stimulating the spread and intensification.
My research focuses on the development and use of mathematical models to study emerging marine diseases causing mass mortalities in marine invertebrates such as corals, clams, oysters, abalone, sea stars, etc., with a special emphasis on the physical and biological mechanisms and processes that underlie the generation of outbreaks. For this, I use single-population models, metapopulation and community models, and coupled ocean circulation models. I evaluate disease risk estimating the basic reproduction Ro using Next Generation Matrix method. I am particularly curious about the interaction between marine diseases and fisheries, climate change effect on disease transmission and spread, and community disease ecology. In parallel, I work on the development of new methodologies and algorithms related with nonparametric statistics, such as nonparametric curves estimation, testing procedures, variable selection, bootstrap resampling methods with implications in marine biology and fisheries.
Currently, I am working at the University of the Basque Country as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistic. Last 5 years I have been involved as a postdoc researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi/Old Dominion University (USA) on the project 'Development of a Theoretical Basis for Modeling Disease Processes Marine Invertebrates' funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) program in Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases. The results of this project are providing an important advancement in the theoretical basis for modeling diseases and disease transmission in marine systems.
My PhD research was centered in the ecological dynamics of marine invertebrates with commercial interest with an important accent on modeling different ecological aspects such as habitat suitability, larval dispersal and population connectivity, and potential expansion of introduced species.
Gorka Bidegain
Assisstant Professor
University of the Basque Country
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
Leioa, Bizkaia
Spain
[email protected]
My research focuses on the development and use of mathematical models to study emerging marine diseases causing mass mortalities in marine invertebrates such as corals, clams, oysters, abalone, sea stars, etc., with a special emphasis on the physical and biological mechanisms and processes that underlie the generation of outbreaks. For this, I use single-population models, metapopulation and community models, and coupled ocean circulation models. I evaluate disease risk estimating the basic reproduction Ro using Next Generation Matrix method. I am particularly curious about the interaction between marine diseases and fisheries, climate change effect on disease transmission and spread, and community disease ecology. In parallel, I work on the development of new methodologies and algorithms related with nonparametric statistics, such as nonparametric curves estimation, testing procedures, variable selection, bootstrap resampling methods with implications in marine biology and fisheries.
Currently, I am working at the University of the Basque Country as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistic. Last 5 years I have been involved as a postdoc researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi/Old Dominion University (USA) on the project 'Development of a Theoretical Basis for Modeling Disease Processes Marine Invertebrates' funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) program in Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases. The results of this project are providing an important advancement in the theoretical basis for modeling diseases and disease transmission in marine systems.
My PhD research was centered in the ecological dynamics of marine invertebrates with commercial interest with an important accent on modeling different ecological aspects such as habitat suitability, larval dispersal and population connectivity, and potential expansion of introduced species.
Gorka Bidegain
Assisstant Professor
University of the Basque Country
Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
Leioa, Bizkaia
Spain
[email protected]