Perkins Lab @ ND

  • Home
  • Research
  • Publications
  • People
  • Connect
  • Blog
  • Home
  • Research
  • Publications
  • People
  • Connect
  • Blog

People

Faculty

Picture
Alex Perkins 🤓👪👨‍💻👨‍🏫​
Professor of Biological Sciences
Concurrent Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics

​RAPIDD Postdoctoral Fellow, NIH Fogarty International Center and UC Davis

PhD in Population Biology, University of California, Davis
BA in Computational Ecology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
curriculum vitae

Alex is interested in all aspects of research in the lab.
Picture
Sean Moore
Associate Research Professor of Biological Sciences

Postdoc, Johns Hopkins University
​Postdoc, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

PhD in Zoology, Oregon State University
BS in Biology, Virginia Tech

Sean is interested in mathematical and statistical modeling of vector-borne and emerging diseases, with a focus on spatial epidemiology, dynamic modeling, and intervention effects.
Picture
Anita Lerch
Assistant Research Professor

PhD in Molecular Epidemiology, University of Basel, Switzerland
MSc in Computer Science, University of Basel, Switzerland
BSc in Computer Science with Minor in Bioinformatics, University of Basel, Switzerland

Anita's research focuses on computational data analysis of pathogens and their hosts. Her research specialties include combining genomic data with individual-based models to study transmission networks of Plasmodium parasites and population dynamics of the Anopheles vector. Her current research focuses on the epidemiology of vector-borne pathogens in general.

Postdocs

Picture
Alex Meyer 📈🎸🚴‍♂️🐎​
Postdoctoral Researcher

PhD in Applied Mathematics, University of California, Davis
MS in Applied Mathematics, University of California, Davis
BA in Mathematics and Biology, Williams Colllege


Alex is working on a project to support planning of chikungunya vaccine trials.
Picture
Kelsey Shaw ​🏃‍♀️🌮🐕⛺
Postdoctoral Researcher

PhD in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, Emory University
DVM, Cornell University

BA in Biological Sciences, Duke University
BA in Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University


Kelsey is interested in understanding infectious diseases across scales. In her PhD she focused on host traits that influence schistosome transmission in their intermediate snail hosts, as well as the role of the greater ecological community feeding back on host-parasite dynamics. Her current project focuses on better modeling co-circulating respiratory pathogens by considering their potential interactions at multiple scales.
Picture
Abhijit Majumder
Postdoctoral Researcher

PhD in Applied Mathematics, Jadavpur University, India
MSc in Pure Mathematics, Calcutta University, India
BSc in Mathematics, Calcutta University, India


Abhijit is working on a project on vector-borne pathogens at the wildlife-domestic interface in ruminant communities. His research uses real-world data to model virus infection dynamics at the within-host scale.
Picture
Albert Akuno
Postdoctoral Researcher

PhD in Probability and Statistics, Center for Research in Mathematics A.C., Mexico
MS in Statistics, Egerton University, Kenya
BS in Economics and Statistics, Egerton University, Kenya


Over the past four years, much of Albert’s research has been in the area of mathematical and statistical epidemiological modeling of infectious diseases using dynamical systems. In his PhD, he particularly focused on performing mathematical analysis and Bayesian statistical inference on multi-patch metapopulation based deterministic and stochastic epidemic models with population mobility. He is also interested in computational statistics, uncertainty quantification, inverse problems, multivariate data analysis, probability, and stochastic epidemic processes.
Picture
Daniela Florez Pineda
Postdoctoral Researcher

PhD in Mathematics, Tulane University
BS in Mathematics, Universidad Sergio Arboleda, Colombia

Daniela's research focuses on advancing mathematical models and computational tools for simulating disease transmission dynamics. She is particularly interested in merging mosquito-borne disease models and their corresponding mitigation strategies with the effects of environmental fluctuations.

​Graduate Students

Picture
​Marya Poterek 👩🏻‍💻🤠🧛🏻​🦟
Graduate Student
​
PhD Candidate in Biological Sciences
BS in Science-Computing, University of Notre Dame

Marya is interested in interactions between human behavior and Aedes-borne disease dynamics.
Picture
Alan Costello ☘️🗺️🛰️🏳️‍🌈​
Graduate Student (advised by Sean Moore)

PhD Candidate in Biological Sciences
MSc in Geocomputation, National Centre for Geocomputation
BA (Hons) Geography and Music, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Alan’s background is in spatiotemporal epidemiology with a focus on climatology and biogeography. Before coming to Notre Dame, Alan worked for eSpatial, a leading cloud mapping software company. His previous research concentrated on modeling diabetes prevalence in Ireland and dengue surveillance and control methods in Malaysia. His dissertation chapters span forecasting of cholera in Africa, high-resolution mapping of Japanese encephalitis, and modeling yellow fever outbreak response.
Picture
Stacy Mowry 🐕📖🏃‍♀️👩‍💻✌️​
Graduate Student
​
PhD Candidate in Biological Sciences
MS in Biomathematics, Illinois State University
BA in Mathematics, Hispanic Studies, Vassar College
​
Stacy is interested in modeling and mapping vector-borne disease risk, with a focus on tick-borne diseases.
Picture
Manar Alkuzweny 🧿​🌙🇮🇶🏖️​
Graduate Student
​
PhD Candidate in Biological Sciences
BS in Public Health, University of California, San Diego
​
Manar is interested in modeling interventions against Aedes-transmitted viruses.
Picture
Carol de Souza Moreira 👩‍💻🇧🇷🐈👻🏳️‍🌈​
Graduate Student

PhD Student in Biological Sciences
BS in Biomedical Sciences, Minas Gervais State University, Brazil
​
Carol is interested in modeling the co-circulation of multiple Aedes-transmitted viruses.
Picture
Yuxin Meng
Graduate Student

PhD Student in Biological Sciences
MS in Mathematics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
BS in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Lanzhou University, China
​
Yuxin is a beginning PhD student who is interested in coupled dynamics of infectious diseases and human behavior.

Undergraduates

Picture
Ryan Kelley ​​🏃‍♂️🎾🧪☘️⛰️
Undergraduate Researcher

Pursuing a BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics

Ryan is ​working with collaborators at Bavarian Nordic on a project related to chikungunya epidemiology.
Picture
Sofia Li-Harezlak ✈️🧮⛸️🍜📊​
Undergraduate Researcher

Pursuing a BS in Honors Mathematics

Sofia is working with Dr. Anita Lerch on modeling the risk of tick-borne diseases.

​Alumni

Research Assistant Professors
Sean Moore, 2017-2024, Epidemiologist, Fogarty International Center
Guido España, 2020-2023, Team Lead, CDC Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics

Postdoctoral Researchers
Neda Jalali, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2022-2023, Principal Biostatistician, Regeneron
Jenni Peterson, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2022-2023, Assistant Professor, University of Delaware
Saikanth Ratnavale, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2022-2023, Assistant Professor, Marshall University
Anita Lerch, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2018-2023, Research Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame
Sean Cavany, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2018-2022, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oxford
Guido España, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2016-2020, Research Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame
Morgan Smith, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2020, Epidemiological Analyst for the CDC Foundation and State of Pennsylvania
Amir Siraj, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2015-2020, Research and Data Analyst on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at PATH
James Soda, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2017-2019, Assistant Professor at Quinnipiac University

PhD Students
Carly Barbera, PhD in Biological Sciences (co-advised with Jason Rohr), 2025, Postdoc at Utah State University 
Annaliese Wieler
, PhD in Biological Sciences, 2024, Metrum Research Group, Research Scientist
Quan Tran Minh, PhD in Biological Sciences, 2023, CDC Prevention Effectiveness Postdoctoral Fellow, CDC Dengue Branch
John Huber, PhD in Biological Sciences, 2021, MD Student at Washington University in St. Louis
Rachel Oidtman​, PhD in Biological Sciences, 2020, Associate Principal Scientist at Merck
Quirine ten Bosch, PhD in Biological Sciences, 2017, Assistant Professor at Wageningen University and Research
​
Other Graduate Students
Ebony Saccento, Post-baccalaureate Student, 2025, PhD Student at Notre Dame
Geonsik Yu,
Visiting Student from Purdue University, 2025, Staff Scientist at Tufts University
Jonah Barreto, MS in Global Health, 2017, employed at Epic Systems Corporation in Madison, WI
Michael Prough, MS in Global Health, 2016, Clinical Research Coordinator at University of Miami
Karly Harrod, MS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, 2016

Undergraduates
Ava Schwan, Pursuing a BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics
Holly Bill, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, 2025, PhD Student in Social and Engineering Systems at MIT
Liam Emerick, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, 2025
Amir Khouzam, BS in Neuroscience and Behavior, 2025
Nadim Khouzam, BS in Neuroscience and Behavior, 2025
Erin Coyne, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, 2024
​Brooke Rodriguez, BS in Mathematics, 2024
Jonathan Daly, BS in Neuroscience and Behavior, 2023
Maggie Elliott, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, 2022, PhD Student in Biostatistics at UC San Diego
Maggie O'Connor, BS in Environmental Sciences, 2022, MD Student at UT Southwestern
​Kathryn Strimbu, BS in Biological Sciences, 2022​, MPP Student at University of Chicago
Georgia Mudd, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics Statistics, 2021, Research Assistant at UNC School of Public Health
Carson Hartlage, BS in Biological Sciences, 2020, MD/PhD Student at University of Cincinnati
Cassie Miller, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics Statistics, 2019, MS Student in ACMS at University of Notre Dame
Yutong Yao, BS in Pre-Health and Economics, 2019, MPH Student at Emory University
Maggie Walters, BS in Biological Sciences, 2019, Post-Bachelor Fellow at Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
​Marya Poterek, BS in Science-Computing, 2019, PhD Student in Biological Sciences at University of Notre Dame
Katherine Koh, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, 2019, Emergency Medical Technician
​Henri Chung, BS in Biological Sciences, 2019, PhD Student in Computational Biology at Iowa State University
Caleb Johnson, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, 2017, Data Scientist at BoozAllenHamilton
John Huber, BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, 2017, MPhil student and Gates Scholar at Cambridge
Ethan Holland​, BS in Biological Sciences, 2017, MD Student at University of Florida
Adam Haydel, BS in Science-Business, 2016, MD Student at Louisiana State University
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.