Professor Mario Recker

About me:

I am a mathematical biologist with a research focus on the evolutionary ecology and epidemiology of infectious diseases, such as malaria, dengue and (drug resistant) Staphylococcus aureus. I am particularly interested in multi-scale host-pathogen interactions and how these affect infection pathologies, pathogen evolution and disease incidence across time and space. For this I employ a wide variety of mathematical and computational techniques, from individual-based and population-level modelling to advanced statistical methods and machine learning approaches.

Research overview:

Many pathogens utilise antigenic and phenotypic diversity as a means to avoid detection and clearance by the host’s immune system. This enables them to remain within the host for prolonged periods of time, allows the pathogen to establish infections in previously exposed individuals and can lead to highly varied infection outcomes. My research focuses on the multifaceted epidemiology of antigenically and phenotypically diverse pathogens, such as Plasmodium falciparum, dengue or Staphylococcus aureus. With the help of mathematical and data analytic frameworks and in close collaboration with field and laboratory scientists I investigate the pathology and evolutionary epidemiology of these pathogens, focusing on host-pathogen interactions at multiple ecological scales that link within-host processes of gene expression and immune selection to between-host epidemiological patterns of infection and disease.

Qualifications:

• DPhil, Zoology (2000 - 2003, University of Oxford)
• MSc, Nonlinear Dynamics & Chaos (1999 - 2000, UCL)
• Diplom Mathematiker (1995 - 1999, TFH Berlin)

Office hours (M204, Tremough House):

Monday 16:00 - 17:00

Tuesday 11:00 - 12:00