Süßmilch Lecture - hybrid

The role of human behavior in shaping infectious disease dynamics

Ayesha Mahmud, University of California, Berkeley
Online or at Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, March 31, 2026

As part of the Suessmilch Lecture series, Ayesha Mahmud from the UC Berkeley will present on "The role of human behavior in shaping infectious disease dynamics".

Venue: Auditorium

The event begins at 3 pm CET on March 31, 2026.

Abstract

Demography and social structures shape many aspects of an infectious disease outbreak in a population – from host susceptibility and exposure to transmission and health outcomes. However, the social forces that shape human behavior are difficult to quantify and often omitted from mathematical epidemiological models. In this talk, I will discuss some recent work using data from surveys to parameterize infectious disease models to capture heterogeneities in disease outcomes.

About the Speaker

Ayesha Mahmud is an Associate Professor of Demography at UC Berkeley. She is broadly interested in the interplay between human population changes, environmental factors, and infectious disease dynamics. Her research draws on theory and methods from demography and disease ecology, to answer questions such as - why do outbreaks occur at certain times of the year? How and why does the mortality burden of infectious diseases vary over time? How do population travel patterns drive the spatial dynamics of outbreaks? How will global environmental and demographic changes alter the landscape of infectious disease burden in the future? Prior to coming to Berkeley, she was a Rockefeller Foundation Planetary Health Fellow at Harvard University. She received her Ph.D. in Demography from Princeton University in 2017.

Participation

Please register via this survey for online participation. The Zoom link will be sent to you afterwards. The event begins at 3 pm CET on March 31, 2026.