Andreas Handel, Emory University

The dynamics of drug resistance emergence

Friday October 5th, 4pm, Phillips 332
(refreshments served in Phillips 330 starting at 3:30)

Abstract: Drug resistance is becoming an ever increasing problem for both human and animal health. The dynamical processes that lead to resistance emergence are multifaceted and complex. For instance, understanding the process of resistance emergence inside an infected host does not tell us about the potential spread of resistance on the population level. A comprehensive understanding of the problem from the level of genetic mutations to the level of population-wide spread is still missing. In this talk, I present some work on within-host and between-host modeling of drug resistance, with a focus on Neuraminidase Inhibitor resistance in influenza. I show how one can use a combination of mathematical models and data to gain qualitative and (semi)-quantitative understanding of the different, interconnected processes that lead to drug resistance emergence.