Lab Members

Virginia (Ginny) Pitzer, joined the Yale School of Public Health as an assistant professor in 2012. She received her bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University in 2002 and a Sc.D. in Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health in 2007, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University and the Research and Policy for Infectious Disease Dynamics (RAPIDD) program at Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health prior to coming to Yale. Her research focuses on mathematical and statistical modeling of the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases, including rotavirus, typhoid fever, and RSV. She studies how interventions such as vaccination, improved treatment of cases, and improvements in sanitation affect disease transmission at the population level. She has served on numerous World Health Organization advisory groups, including the Immunization and Vaccine-related Implementation Research Advisory Committee (WHO IVIR-AC) and is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief for PLOS Computational Biology. Ginny also serves as Co-Director of the Public Health Modeling concentration and as a member of the Graduate Studies Executive Committee overseeing the PhD program at Yale School of Public Health.

Ernest Asare is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. His primary research focuses on using mathematical models to describe the transmission dynamics, evaluate the impact of interventions and understand the influence of meteorological and climatic factors on diarrhea and malaria diseases. He uses mathematical models to better understand and quantify the drivers of differential impact of rotavirus vaccines. He is also interested in how climate change will affect mosquito population and intensity and distribution of malaria.

Yueqi joined the Pitzer Lab in 2021 as a summer intern and is currently a second year MPH student in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases. As part of the team studying rotavirus vaccination in developing countries, she explores the environmental and socioeconomic predictors for vaccine performance in LMICs and estimates disease burden. Outside of class and research, Yueqi enjoys cooking, hiking and karaoke.

Jo joined the Pitzer Lab as a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases in the Fall of 2021, where they use mathematical models to study the dynamics of infectious disease transmission and vaccination in low-resource settings, with a focus on typhoid fever. Prior to arriving at Yale, Jo worked on mathematical modeling and forecasting for influenza and COVID-19 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When Jo is not in class or building models, they enjoy cooking, climbing, and basketball.