Joe Challenger, PhD
Faculty Observer Research Fellow
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Imperial College London
About: I am a Research Fellow working in the malaria group in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, within the School of Public Health. Broadly speaking, I am interested in interventions that can reduce malaria transmission, including vector control products, vaccines, drugs, and monoclonal antibodies. To support my work, I have received research grants from the Medical Research Foundation and Open Philanthropy. As a post-doctoral research associate, I worked with Tom Churcher to model the potential impact of transmission-blocking vaccines for malaria. I have also worked with Lucy Okell within the department, developing within-host models of both treated and untreated malaria infections. This modelling work enabled us to estimate the impact that imperfect adherence to treatment has on patient outcomes. My PhD (in Theoretical Physics) was completed at The University of Manchester with Professor Alan McKane. My PhD work focused on stochastic population dynamics, with an emphasis on individual-based modelling. Following my PhD I spent two years at The University of Florence, working with Professor Duccio Fanelli.