Since March 2009, I have served as the liaison between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling to develop projects with WHO in influenza and other emerging diseases where the MRC Centre can support WHO’s activities.  During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic (H1N1pdm), I worked directly with WHO’s Global Alert and Response (GAR) and Global Influenza Programme (GIP) teams. My main activity during the pandemic was to coordinate the WHO informal mathematical modelling network for H1N1pdm under the leadership of Professor Neil Ferguson and Dr. Cathy Roth (WHO), which included more than 40 Individuals from public health and academic organizations from 18 countries around the world. 

WHO Informal Mathematical Modelling Network for H1N1pdm

During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, this network agreed to work collaboratively to:

• describe and predict the behavior and impact of the pandemic and demonstrate the potential outcome of proposed pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions in different settings;
• to present these analyses in formats suitable for various audiences including technical experts, policy-makers and the general public;
• and to adapt and interpret experiences from developed countries so that they may be applied to low-resource settings. 

I served as the direct link of this network to several departments (GAR, GIP, Initiative for Vaccine Research [IVR]), and technical working groups (SAGE [Strategic Advisory Group of Experts], WHO’s Pandemic Evaluation Group) within WHO and outside organizations (e.g., ECDC).

During the pandemic and in the time since, I provide technical assistance to GIP and GAR at WHO in the form of analysis and interpretation of epidemiologic data, as requested; prepare internal technical documents for WHO; draft internet briefings for WHO’s pandemic flu website; write articles for the Weekly Epidemiologic Record (see below); make external presentations to expert technical audiences on behalf of WHO, as requested; and analyze country data provided to WHO and draft articles for peer-review publication.

Publications include:

• Van Kerkhove MD, Vandemaele KAH, Shinde V, Jaramillo-Gutierrez G, Koukounari A, Donnelly C, Carlino LO, Owen R, Pelletier L, Vachon J, Gonzalez C, Hongjie Y, Zijian F, Chuang SK, Au A, Buda S, Krause G, Haas W, Bonmarin I, Taniguichi K, Nakajima K, Shobayashi T, Takayama Y, Sunagawa T;  Heraud JM, Orelle A, Palacios E, van der Sande M, Wielders CCH, Hunt D, Cutter J, Lee V, Thomas J, Cohen C, Santa-Olalla P, Sierra-Moros MJ, Hanshaoworakul W, Ungchusak K, Pebody R, Smith B, Jain S, Mounts AW, for the WHO Working Group for Risk Factors for Severe H1N1pdm Infection (2011), Risk Factors for Severe Outcomes following 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Infection: A Global Pooled Analysis, PLoS Medicine, 8(7):e1001053. Epub 2011 Jul 5. Available at: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001053

• Van Kerkhove, M. D. and Mounts, A. W. (2011) 2009 versus 2010 comparison of influenza activity in southern hemisphere temperate countries. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 5: no. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00241.

• Van Kerkhove MD, Mounts AW, Mall S, Vandemaele K, Chamberland M, dos Santos T, Fitzner J, Widdowson MA, Michalove J, Bresee J, Olsen S, Quick L, Baumeister E, Carlino L, Savy V, Uez O, Owen R, Ghani F, Paterson B, Fasce R, Torres G, Andrade W, Bustos P, Mora J, Gonzalez C, Olea A, Sotomayor V, Najera De Ferrari M, Burgos A, HuntA, Huang SQ, Jennings L, Macfarlane M, LopezL, McArthur C, Cohen C, Archer B, Blumberg L, Cengimbo A, Makunga C, McAnerney J, Msimang V, Naidoo D, Puren A, Schoub B, Thomas J, and Venter M for the WHO Southern Hemisphere Influenza Comparison Study Working Group (2011) Epidemiologic and Virologic Assessment of the 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic on Selected Temperate Countries in the Southern Hemisphere: Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa,  Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00249.x

• Lipsitch M, Finelli L, Heffernan RT, Leung GM, Redd SC; 2009 H1n1 Surveillance Group. Improving the evidence base for decision making during a pandemic: the example of 2009 influenza A/H1N1. Biosecur Bioterror. 2011 Jun;9(2):89-115.

• Van Kerkhove MD, Asikainen T, Becker NG, Bjorge S, Desenclos J-C, et al. (2010) Studies Needed to Address Public Health Challenges of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Insights from Modeling. PLoS Med 7(6): e1000275. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000275

• Fraser C; Donnelly CA; Cauchemez S; Hanage WP; Van Kerkhove MD; Hollingsworth TD; Griffin J; Baggaley RF; et al. (19 Jun 2009). Pandemic potential of a strain of influenza A (H1N1): early findings. Science. 324:1557-1561

• Opatowski L, Fraser C, Griffin J, de Silva E, Van Kerkhove MD, Lyons EJ, Cauchemez S, Ferguson NM. (2011) Transmission Characteristics of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Comparison of 8 Southern Hemisphere Countries, in press
  

• WHO (2009) New influenza A (H1N1) virus: global epidemiological situation, June 2009.Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2009 Jun 19;84(25):249-57. Available at: http://www.who.int/wer/2009/wer8425.pdf

• WHO (2009) Mathematical modelling of the pandemic H1N1 2009. Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2009 Aug 21;84(34):341-352. Available at: http://www.who.int/wer/2009/wer8434.pdf

• WHO (2009) Transmission dynamics and impact of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus – update. Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2009 Nov 13;84(46):481-484. Available at: http://www.who.int/wer/2009/wer8446.pdf

• WHO (2010) Seroepidemiologic studies for the 2009 influenza A H1N1 pandemic. Wkly Epidemiol Rec, June, No. 24, 2010, 85, 229–236. Available at:  http://www.who.int/wer/2010/wer8524.pdf

Other Interests

I also specialize in other emerging infectious diseases including highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI/H5N1), dengue, and viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola and Marburg). 

Selected publications HPAI/H5N1

• Van Kerkhove MD, Mumford E, Mounts AW, Bresee J, Ly S, Bridges C, Otte J. (2011) Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1): Pathways of Exposure at the Animal‐Human Interface, a Systematic Review, PLoS One. 2011 Jan 24;6(1):e14582. 

• Van Kerkhove MD, Vong S, Holl D, Gutian J, Mangtani P, San S, Ghani A. (2009) Poultry Movement Networks in Cambodia: Implications for improving surveillance and control. Vaccine ESWI Supplement, 27(45), 6345-6352.

• Vong S; Ly S; Van Kerkhove MD; Achenbach J; Holl D; Seng H; Buchy P; Uyeki T; et al. (2009). Risks for H5N1 infections from Poultry to Humans in Cambodia, 2006. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 199(12):1744-52.

• Van Kerkhove MD, Ly S, Guitian J, Holl D, San S, Mangtani M, Ghani A, Vong S (2009) Changes in Poultry Handling Behavior and Poultry Mortality Reporting among Rural Cambodians in Areas Affected by HPAI/H5N1. PLoS ONE 4(7): e6466. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006466

• Van Kerkhove MD; Ly S; Holl D; Guitian J; Mangtani P; Ghani AC; Vong S. (2008). Frequency and patterns of contact with domestic poultry and potential risk of H5N1 transmission to humans living in rural Cambodia. Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2:155-163.

• Ly S; Van Kerkhove MD; Holl D; Froehlich Y; Vong S. (2007). Human and Poultry Interaction, Rural Cambodia. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 13:130-132.

• Van Kerkhove MD. (2009) HPAI/H5N1 Transmission Risks: Pathways from Poultry to Humans. In HPAI/H5N1 Transmission Risks: Pathways from Poultry to Humans (Mekong Team Working Paper No. 10). Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations, http://www.hpai-research.net/docs/Working_papers/WP10%20_2009.pdf

I hold a Ph.D. from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, an M.S. in Epidemiology from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University.