Members of the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium participated in a Measles and Rubella Transmission Modelling Workshop at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay from 5-8 February 2024. The workshop, hosted by India’s National Disease Modelling Consortium (NDMC), featured both informative policy-oriented presentations by distinguished domain experts from India as well as hands-on technical sessions facilitated by instructors from VIMC and the Institute for Disease Modelling (IDM).
More than 20 researchers with a background in mathematics or statistics attended the workshop from a range of institutes in both India and overseas. This included three experts from the National Data Management and Analytics Center for Health of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI): Mr Mulugeta Geremew, Mr Chalie Mulu, and Mr Fitsum Bekele.
The instructors included VIMC’s measles and rubella lead modelers, Matt Ferrari, Mark Jit, Emilia Vynnycky, and Amy Winter, as well as IDM modeler Niket Thakkar.
In addition to the invited talks by domain experts, the NDMC team, represented by Professor Siuli Mukhopadhyay, Professor Rama Pal, Dr Sagar Pandhare, Dr Divya Kappara, and Ms Anshika Tiwari, presented their work on subnational measles elimination.
The primary goals of the workshop were to give participants a comprehensive understanding of measles and rubella transmission modelling and to foster collaborative relationships between VIMC and NDMC modellers. The workshop focused on issues pertinent to understanding and modelling measles and rubella transmission and was organised into three themes: i) history and current understanding of measles and rubella transmission dynamics, ii) measles and rubella model fitting approaches and challenges, and iii) strategic modelling and impact assessment. It utilized a combination of lectures and interactive exercises to disseminate knowledge and enhance practical skills. Exercises included ‘playing’ with models to gain intuition for measles and rubella transmission dynamics, fitting TSIR (time-series Susceptible-Infected-Recovered) models, simulating the impact of vaccine strategies, and more. The workshop also incorporated group and individual meetings where instructors and participants discussed their specific research inquiries and modelling obstacles.
VIMC was delighted to support the travel costs of the EPHI participants and the VIMC measles and rubella modellers.
