I serve as the liaison between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling.  During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic (H1N1pdm09), I worked directly with WHO’s Global Alert and Response (GAR) and Global Influenza Programme (GIP) to define areas where the MRC Centre could support the pandemic response. 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 around the world. 

WHO Informal Mathematical Modelling Network for H1N1pdm09

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

Selected H1N1pdm09 publications include:

• Van Kerkhove MD, Hirve S, Koukounari A, Mounts AW; H1N1pdm serology working group. Estimating age-specific cumulative incidence for the 2009 influenza pandemic: a meta-analysis of A(H1N1)pdm09 serological studies from 19 countries. Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2013 Jan 21. doi: 10.1111/irv.12074. [Epub ahead of print]

• Van Kerkhove MD and Ferguson NM. (2012) Epidemic and intervention modelling - a scientific rationale for policy decisions?  An example from the 2009 influenza pandemic. Bull World Health Organ,90(4), 306-310. doi: 10.2471/BLT.11.097949

• Van Kerkhove MD, Vandemaele KAH, Shinde V,  et al., (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

• Van Kerkhove MD, Vandemaele KAH, Shinde V, et al 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 MD and Mounts AW (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, et al. 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

• 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

I am a leading member of CONSISE –the Consortium for the Standardization of Influenza Seroepidemiology— which is a global partnership to develop influenza investigation protocols and standardize seroepidemiology to inform health policy. This international partnership was formed in 2011 and was created out of a need, identified during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, for timely seroepidemiological data to better estimate pandemic virus infection severity and attack rates to inform policy decisions.

CONSISE has developed into a consortium of two interactive working groups: epidemiology (for which I lead) and laboratory, with a steering committee composed of individuals from several organizations includingthe World Health Organization, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Centres for Disease Control, Public Health England (Formerly the UK Health Protection Agency), Imperial College London, the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza (Melbourne, Australia), University of Hong Kong, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Hanoi, and Public Health Agency of Canada.  We have held three international meetings (February 2011 in Ottawa Canada, December 2011 in Stockholm Sweden, and January 2013 in Hong Kong, SAR) of CONSISE members and a forth will be as a satellite meeting immediately preceding Options in September 2013.

More information about CONSISE can be found here and in the publications below:

Selected CONSISE publications include:

• Van Kerkhove MD, Broberg E, Engelhardt OG, Wood J, Nicoll A; The CONSISE steering committee. The consortium for the standardization of influenza seroepidemiology (CONSISE): a global partnership to standardize influenza seroepidemiology and develop influenza investigation protocols to inform public health policy. Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2012 Dec 26. doi: 10.1111/irv.12068. [Epub ahead of print]

• Laurie K, Hutson P, Riley S, Katz J, Willison D, Tam J, Mounts AW, Hoschler K, Miller E, Vandemale K, Broberg E, Van Kerkhove MD, Nicoll A. (2012) Influenza Serological Studies to Inform Public Health Actions:  Best Practices to Optimize Timing, Quality and Reporting, Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, Apr 30. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2012.0370a.x

Prior to the 2009 pandemic

Prior to 2009, my research focus was highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 (HPAI/H5N1).  This research was conducted in Cambodia in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (NAVRI), Institut Pasteur du Cambodge and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and involved the collection of novel field data in rural, peri-urban and urban areas of Cambodia to better understand the risks of transmission of HPAI/H5N1 from poultry to humans and the potential circulation of HPAI via live poultry trade.

Selected HPAI/H5N1 publications include:

• Van Kerkhove MD, Riley S, Lipsitch M, Guan Y, Monto AS, Webster RG, Zambon M, Nicoll A, JSM Peiris, Ferguson NM. (2012) Comment on “Seroevidence for H5N1 Influenza Virus Infections in Humans: A Meta-Analysis.” Science, 336(6088):1506.

• 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.