MTB Members
Maíra Aguiar – Group Leader
I am a mathematical epidemiologist working on infectious disease dynamics. With a multidisciplinary research profile, I am trained in dynamical systems theory, stochastic processes, nonlinear dynamics, bifurcation analysis and biostatistics, holding a double European PhD degree, PhD in Life Sciences, from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and PhD in Population Biology, from the University of Lisbon, Portugal.
I am the founder and group leader of the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Group at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM) in the Basque Country, Spain, and my scientific interests addresses significant mathematical and fundamental questions in biology and medicine, with special focus on public health epidemiology modeling. I a member of the Board of Directors of the European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (ESMTB), serving as Vice-President from 2018-2020. As a member of the Basque Modeling Task Force, I am currently assisting the Basque Health Managers and the Basque Government during the COVID-19 responses.
Nico Stollenwerk – Experienced Researcher
I am a biomathematician working in population biology and complex systems throughout my scientific career. With previous experiences in European projects, mainly on influenza and dengue fever, I am currently a Visiting Researcher at BCAM, Bilbao, and an active member of the Basque Modeling Task Force (BMTF) on COVID-19.
Vanessa Steindorf – Postoctoral Fellow
I am a mathematician with a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, having wide experience in teaching and mathematical modelling. My academic background is in Biomathematics, with emphasis on Epidemiology. I proposed deterministic models (ODEs, PDEs) to represent, to study and to analyse the behaviour of infectious diseases, focusing on vector borne diseases, such as Chagas disease and Dengue fever.
My research interest is to develop and to analyze mathematical models, to study the propagation of infectious diseases, presenting possible scenarios and assessing control measures.
Akhil Srivastav – Research Technician
I am a trained mathematician who received my Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Applied Mathematics from the School of Advanced Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology, India. During my M.Phil and Ph.D., I worked on infectious disease modeling, such as vector-borne diseases and influenza. My current focus is on Covid-19 Modeling and Dengue Disease, as well as developing a good model, analyzing data with the model, and discussing control interventions (Optimal Control). My research interests include vector-borne disease mathematical modeling, Covid-19, infectious disease dynamics, mathematical modeling of social problems, non-linear dynamics, optimal control, and complex networks.
Vizda Anam – PhD Student
I have received my Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan. During my Masters, I have worked on wave models of partial differential equations using the Sinc-Collocation approach. I moved to Spain on October 2020 to work on my Ph.D. project “SEV-2017-0718” under the supervision of Dr. Maíra Aguiar at the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology MTB-Group. My Ph.D. project focuses on within-host modeling aiming to understand the host-immune components involved in disease progression. Applied to dengue fever epidemiology, I am developing within-host models to understand the immunopathogenesis of severe disease after a mild/asymptomatic primary dengue infection. This modeling approach will be applied to different infectious diseases.
Carlo Estadilla – PhD Student
I am a Ph.D. fellow at the MTB group at BCAM. I am currently working on the cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 interventions including vaccination. I have previously done research on the optimal control, modeling, and forecasting of COVID-19. I took my graduate degree in applied mathematics from the University of the Philippines – Diliman, where I studied the optimal control of an HIV/AIDS epidemic model. My general interest is in the optimization of interventions and policies affecting population-level dynamics and behavior.
Bob W. Kooi, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands – External Scientific Member (Since 2024)
I am an applied mathematician. My main research interests are in the use of mathematical models to help solve problems in Ecology and Epidemiology. Research emphasis is on the application of bifurcation theory for the analysis of mathematical models based on processes and mechanisms at lower levels of organization, such as the individual, to solve problems at higher levels, such as populations and ecosystems. Topics of special interest are the role of interactions between populations, such as predator-prey interaction, disease transmission, inducible defense mechanisms and competition on ecosystem structure and functioning.
Andrea Pugliese, Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy – External Scientific Member (2019 – present)
I was born in 1956 and graduated in Mathematics from the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1978, later earning my PhD in Ecology and Evolution from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1986. Since 1983, I have been part of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Trento, where I have served as a full professor of Mathematical Analysis since 2005. My academic journey includes study periods at Cornell University, a Fulbright Fellowship at Princeton University, and a visiting professorship at Arizona State University. I have authored or co-authored around 100 journal articles, primarily on mathematical models in biology, focusing on ecology and epidemiology, and I wrote a textbook on population dynamics. I have also been active in the mathematical biology community as a former president of the European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (2011–2014) and as an editorial board member for several prestigious journals.
Former Internship Students (undergraduate)
Silvia Garcia
University of Salamanca, Spain
From Sept. 2021 – March 2022
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Stefano Spaziani
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
From March – July 2021
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Irati Egigure
University of Basque Country, Spain
From Dec. 2020 – Feb. 2021
External PhD/Master Students
Giulio Pisaneschi
PhD Student, University of Pisa, Italy ,
From Oct. – Dec. 2024
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Hamna mariyam K B,
Master Student, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India
From March – Aug. 2024
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Luis Mateus,
PhD Student, University of Lisbon, Portugal
From Feb. 2023 – present
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Chiara Cicolani
Erasmus+ Traineeship, University of L’Aquila, Italy
From Feb. – Dec. 2022
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Zaineb Ounissi
PhD Student, Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Tunisia
From May – July 2023
Visitors
Myriam Sonia Djoukwe Tapi, 9th Edition of Science by Women Porgramme “Mujeres in Africa”
Researcher, University of Douala, Cameroon
From May – Oct. 2024
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Andrea Pugliese,
Professor, University of Trento, Italy
From June 1 – June 8 2024
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Burcu Gürbüz,
Researcher, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany
From March – April 2024
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Thomas Goetz,
Professor, Koblenz University, Germany
From Oct. 10 – Oct. 17 2023
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Amira Kebir, 8th Edition of Science by Women Porgramme “Mujeres in Africa”
Professor, Université de Tunis, Researcher at Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunisia
From Feb. – July 2023
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Carmen Guirado Fuentes,
Researcher, Fundación Canaria Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Canarias, Canary Island, Spain.
From March 27 – March 31 2023
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Bob W. Kooi
Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
From April – June 2023
From Nov. 13 – Nov. 18 2023
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Urszula Skwara
Professor, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland
From Sept. – Oct. 2021
From July 3 – July 10 2023
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Nico Stollenwerk
Reseacher, University of Trento, Italy
From Sept. 2020 – March 2021
Former Members
Bruno Guerrero
Research Technician
From Sept. 2021 – Nov. 2024
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Fernando Saldaña
Postoctoral Fellow
From Jan. 2022 – May 2024
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Bechir Naffeti
Research Technician
From Feb. 2023 – March 2024
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Rubén Blasco-Aguado
Research Technician
From Jan. 2022 – Oct. 2023
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Nicole Cusimano
Postdoctoral Fellow
From Feb. 2020 – May 2022
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Damián Knopoff
Postdoctoral Fellow
From Dec. 2020 – Ju. 2022