Tuesday 16th June 2026 from 19:00 for 19:30
Abingdon United Football Club (Northcourt Rd, OX14 1PL, Abingdon)

How do diseases spread and how can the analysis of data help us stop them? In this talk, Professor Donnelly will explain the quantitative modelling and statistical tools that are essential for understanding transmission dynamics and informing evidence-based policies for both human and animal health. Drawing on lessons from past epidemics and endemic diseases, across livestock, wildlife, and human populations, she will show how mathematical frameworks and statistical inference help unravel complex transmission systems. She will also highlight how novel data sources are underpinning new approaches to understanding transmission and protecting vulnerable populations.

Speaker: Professor Christl Donnelly

Christl Donnelly CBE has been Professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Oxford since 2018. Previously, she was Professor of Statistical Epidemiology at Imperial College London.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the newly formed Academy for the Mathematical Sciences.  Her research spans infectious diseases in humans and in animals, with extensive experience in real-time analysis of data during major epidemics. These include the 2001 UK foot-and-mouth disease epidemic, the 2003 SARS epidemic, the 2009 influenza pandemic, the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic.