Emory Center for Infectious Disease Modeling & Analytics and Training Hub

Shedding Hub feature #3: Models! The Shedding Hub currently provides two statistical models to analyze pathogen shedding dynamics. Explore tutorials and documentation on the Shedding Hub website! https://shedding-hub.github.io/model.html

For our second Shedding Hub feature this week, we highlight the shedding-hub Python package that allows you to access and analyze Shedding Hub data directly in Python! Learn more at shedding-hub.github.io/package.html

This week we are highlighting the Shedding Hub, an open science initiative led by CIDMATH investigator Dr. Yuke Wang dedicated to centralizing biomarker shedding data and models into one easy, publicly accessible resource. First feature: the Shedding Hub Dashboard - explore it now! https://shedding-hub.github.io/

Last year, we introduced the ENGAGED study, led by our social contacts team in partnership with KPGA. A lot of progress has been made, and we are excited to share a sneak peek of the preliminary results! Here we share a contact matrix, showing the rate of contacts for participants, separated by age group.

Interested in seeing the most up to date contact matrix and more preliminary data like number of group contact settings, group contact size, participant demographics, and reported symptoms? Check out the ENGAGED dashboard on CIDMATH.org and make sure to follow us for future updates on ENGAGED and other projects!

Thank you Dr. Seema Lakdawala for an engaging presentation today about H5N1 on dairy farms for the CIDMATH/EAVE seminar series!

Scholarship applications for 2026 are now open! You can learn more and apply on the SISMID website https://sismid.sph.emory.edu/index.html

Rollins School of Public Health

CIDMATH Director Ben Lopman shares his experience with rotavirus as a parent and professional, underscoring the impact of changes to the U.S. childhood vaccination schedule:

My son had rotavirus before he could get the vaccine. Ending universal rotavirus vaccination is a tragedy A rotavirus expert’s baby caught the disease before vaccines were available. He’s seen firsthand why the vaccine, recently downgraded on the vaccination schedule, is so important.

"I’d reassure [parents] that removing vaccines from the schedule doesn’t mean they’ve become unsafe or ineffective—there’s no new evidence suggesting any safety or efficacy concerns," says Dr. Ben Lopman, Director of CIDMATH. "This shift reflects a political decision that runs counter to the views of vaccine scientists and public health experts."

This week, acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Jim O'Neill ordered the CDC to adopt a new vaccine schedule that no longer universally recommends vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19 for all children. Lopman provides expert insights on the impact of this change.

🔗 Read the full article on the Rollins School of Public Health News Center:

Expert Opinion: What Changes to the Childhood Immunization Schedule Mean for Americans’ Health What do changes to the childhood vaccine schedule mean for American kids and the greater public? Infectious disease epidemiologist, Ben Lopman, shares his insights.

🔔 Check out new paper “Characterizing social behavior relevant for infectious disease transmission in four low- and middle-income countries, 2021-2023” from CIDMATH investigators Kristin Nelson, Samuel Jenness, and Ben Lopman, staff Machi Shiiba, doctoral students Sara Kim and Pragati Prasad, and collaborators

The full paper is available open access in Nature Communications (🔗 in bio!)

📣 Paper Spotlight: “Deep neural networks for endemic measles dynamics: Comparative analysis and integration with mechanistic models” authored by Wyatt Madden, Wei Jin, Ben Lopman, Andreas Züfle, Benjamin Dalziel, C. Jessica E. Metcalf, Bryan T. Grenfell, and Max S.Y. Lau and published in PLOS Computational Biology

Check out the image for highlights and find the full paper at the 🔗in bio!