Andreas Handel - Brief professional bio

Current position

I am currently the UGA Foundation Professor in Public Health and Associate Department Head in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, at the University of Georgia (UGA).

I am also a Member of UGA’s Institute of Bioinformatics and Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, and have an adjunct appointment in the Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Research focus

My research focuses on data analytics, statistical inference, and computational modeling, particularly in the context of infectious diseases. I use different types of statistical and machine learning approaches to analyze data. My preferred statistical framework is Bayesian, but I adjust as needed. I also develop mechanistic computational models, often based on ordinary differential equations, to investigate the dynamics of the systems I study. These models can help evaluate the impact of drugs and vaccines and other interventions on the dynamics of infections. The ultimate aim of my work is to contribute to the development of more effective interventions and control strategies, both on the level of individuals as well as the population.

Descriptions of some current research projects can be found on my research group website. Slides for recent talks and presentations are located on this website and can be found here.

Previous positions

I started in 2009 as Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UGA, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 and to Full Professor in 2021.

From 2004 - 2009, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biology at Emory University in the group of Rustom Antia. During my Postdoc I made the transition from physics to infectious disease modeling.

From 1999 - 2004, I did a PhD in theoretical physics at the Center for Nonlinear Science and School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I worked with Roman Grigoriev on the topic of localized control of spatially extended, nonlinear dynamical systems.

I grew up in Germany and started my undergrad studies in 1996 at the University of Stuttgart, in Physics. I received my B.S. (or what could be considered the German equivalent) in 1999, after which I moved to the U.S.

Additional, completely irrelevant information

My current Erdős number is (as far as I’m aware) 4. (Paul Erdős -> Ernst Gabor Straus -> Raymond M. Redheffer -> Sergei S. Pilyugin -> Andreas Handel).