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Description
The Zarnitsyna lab in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University School of Medicine is recruiting for a new multidisciplinary project on respiratory virus transmission. The project combines video-recorded ferret transmission experiments with machine learning–based behavioral tracking and mechanistic mathematical modeling to determine how contact behavior, contact duration, fomite sharing, and viral shedding together shape infection risk.
The long-term goal is to translate this framework to human challenge studies and household cohorts to inform evidence-based mitigation strategies. This position focuses specifically on the mathematical modeling component: building and fitting mechanistic models that link the behavioral tracking data to infection outcomes and viral dynamics.
The Zarnitsyna lab invites applications for a Research Scientist to work with Dr. Veronika Zarnitsyna on mechanistic modeling of respiratory virus transmission, integrating behavioral data from ferret transmission experiments with within-host viral dynamics. The successful candidate will develop within-host and between-host models of infection and transmission, apply Bayesian and likelihood-based inference methods to fit them to experimental data, and work collaboratively with graduate students, postdocs, and faculty from multidisciplinary fields.
Writing papers, presenting at meetings, and mentoring students are also part of the role. The position can start immediately. Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Dr. Veronika Zarnitsyna at vizarni@emory.edu with a CV, a brief statement of research interests, and contact information for three references.