York University Professor Jane Heffernan, Department of Mathematics & Statistics in the Faculty of Science, has been elected as the next president of the Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB), the largest and only international society in its field. Her position commences in Summer 2022.
Heffernan is an international leader in infectious disease modelling, tackling important questions related to the spread of diseases and public health strategies. Her research program centers on understanding the spread and persistence of infectious diseases in hosts and in populations, with a focus on studies of immunity and behaviour change. Her expertise includes mathematical models of disease (including COVID-19, HIV, HCV, HSV, TB and influenza), and forecasting health care demand (for example, ward and ICU hospital beds).
She leads the Modelling Infection and Immunity Lab at York University, and is the communications director for the Centre for Disease Modelling at York University. Heffernan also works closely with modelling groups in Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Science’s COVID Modelling Task Force.
Heffernan is also York Research Chair (Tier II), Multi-Scale Methods for Evidence-based Health Policy.
SMB was founded in 1973 to promote the development and dissemination of research and education at the interface between the mathematical and biological sciences. It does so through its meetings, awards, and publications. The society serves a diverse community of researchers and educators in academia, in industry, and government agencies throughout the world.