New ways to model how people behave and how infections spread
Official title: Novel data and approaches for dynamic modeling of human behavior and infectious disease ecology
Funded at University of California Berkeley · NIH-11400038 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new project at UC Berkeley will build models that connect how people act and how diseases spread, to better understand outbreaks.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California Berkeley NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Berkeley, United States) |
| Project start | September 24, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $400,751 |
| NIH project number | 5R35GM156856-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11400038 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Not applicable for this grant as described; this is a modeling and methods grant rather than a patient-facing trial.
✕Less likely to help
The project is focused on modeling; individuals would not be enrolled as participants.
What this research studies
The project creates a flexible framework that links human behavior and disease dynamics, showing how contact patterns and behaviors change across communities and over time. It will use demographic and social factors to capture heterogeneity in exposure and transmission, including how environments and policies shape actions. By modeling the feedback between people’s choices and infection risk, this work aims to improve predictions of outbreaks and identify ways to reduce spread. The approach combines data-driven methods with theoretical modeling to reflect real-world social structures and dynamics.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could lead to more accurate outbreak forecasts and better-targeted interventions that reduce transmission.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work has shown that incorporating social and behavioral factors improves epidemic models, with ongoing research expanding these methods.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California Berkeley
Berkeley, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mahmud, Ayesha Sanchita — University of California Berkeley
- Study coordinator: Mahmud, Ayesha Sanchita
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Latin American Center for Emerging Infectious Disease Surveillance and Readiness
A regional collaboration in Peru and neighboring countries aims to strengthen early warning and monitoring for viruses that could jump from animals to people, helping communities prepare for outbreaks.
-
Center in Latin America to monitor emerging infectious diseases
A U01 grant supporting a collaboration between Peruvian and U.S. researchers to improve early detection and surveillance of regionally relevant viruses that could affect people, animals, and crops in Peru and neighboring areas.
-
Acanthamoeba as a modern model parasite to study infectious disease biology and mitochondria
A five-year project will define the mitochondrial proteins and pathways of Acanthamoeba castellanii to advance infectious disease biology and parasite metabolism.
-
IDEAL project helps predict vaccine response, infections, and asthma in early childhood
A Child-focused program will collect and share saliva, blood, and tissue samples from diverse infants to find biological patterns that predict how vaccines work, how respiratory infections occur, and who develops asthma.
-
Understanding how early-life immune development affects vaccine responses and asthma risk in children
This project uses lab-grown human immune cells from infants and young children to explore why some kids respond poorly to vaccines and are more prone to respiratory infections and asthma.
-
Multi-omic endotypes of vaccine response, respiratory infections, and asthma in children
A parent-friendly look at how early-life immune development shapes how kids respond to vaccines and stay free from lung infections and asthma, using advanced biological profiling.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.