A Tour of the Basic Reproductive Number and the Next Generation of Researchers
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ABSTRACT: The Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI) is a national award winning Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) that has been running every summer since 1996. Since 1997, students have developed and proposed their own research questions and derived their research projects from them as the keystone of the program. Because MTBI’s mentors have no control over what students are interested in, we need to introduce a suite of flexible techniques that can be applied to a broad variety of interests. In this paper, we walk through examples of some of the most popular techniques at MTBI: epidemiological or contagion modeling and reproductive number analysis. We include an overview of the next generation matrix method of finding the basic reproductive number, sensitivity analysis as a technique for investigating the effect of parameters on the reproductive number, and recommendations for interpreting the results. Lastly, we provide some advice to mentors who are looking to advise student-led research projects. All examples are taken from actual student projects that are generally available through the MTBI website.
SUBMITTER: Callender Highlander H
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7123362 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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