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Hi!
Welcome to my website. :) I am currently a James S. McDonnell Foundation for Complex Systems postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago, in the lab of Mercedes Pascual. I am mostly interested in the application of network theory to ecological systems, specifically in the field of disease ecology. Visit my publications and research pages to learn more about my research. Apart from research I enjoy photography and traveling, and of course being with my family. |
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(2018-09-03) Our paper on the temporal genetic population structure of the malaria parasite is on BioRxiv
In this paper, we use computational modeling and empirical data to reveal persistent strain structure despite vast antigenic diversity in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, with potential consequences for the acquisition of immunity. |
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(2018-06-11) Our paper is featured in Nature Communications' special collection
on complexity research Our paper, with Qixin as lead author, was selected by Nature Communications' editors for the special collection on complexity research. |
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(2018-05-09) A new paper in Nature Communications
Our paper “Networks of genetic similarity reveal non-neutral processes shape strain structure in Plasmodium falciparum” (with Qixin He as lead author) is now published in Nature Communications! In the paper we use network theory to identify signatures of immune selection in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which presents hyper diversity of the var gene system. Qixin also wrote an interesting “behind the paper story” in Nature Communications’s blog. |
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Spring 2018 - Teaching a course on networks
This semester I am teaching the course Networks in Ecology and Evolution, along with Prof. Mercedes Pascual. The course introduces graduate students to the rapidly-advancing field of network ecology through lectures, hands-on computer labs and discussions. |
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February 2018 - Two invited talks at Duke
I was invited by Charles Nunn and James Moody to give two seminars at Duke. One at the Duke Network Analysis Center, where I talked about our recent findings of the malaria system, and the second at the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine, where I talked about the application of multilayer networks in ecology. |
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Activity in the upcoming NetSci conference (Paris, June 2018)
I am co-organizing the Satellite meeting EcoNet 2018 as part of the NetSci 2018 in Paris. I will also be giving an invited talk in the Satellite meeting "Networks in Disease Ecology". |
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January 2018 - A visit in Israel
I visited Israel and gave two talks. One at the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology (Ben-Gurion University), and one at the School of Zoology (Tel-Aviv University). A great way to start the year! |
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October 2017 - A seminar at the Northwestern Institute for Complex Systems (NICO)
I was invited to present a seminar at NICO, where I discussed two of the projects on malaria I have been developing during my postdoc. See here. |
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August 2017
I presented at the Ecological Society of America meeting (see abstract here). The presentation was part of a symposium dedicated for discussing the use of multiplex networks in ecology. |
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August 2017 - A new paper accepted in Journal of Theoretical Biology!
In this paper we combine principles from disease ecology with physics of multilayer networks to study disease transmission in a two-host interconnected network. By showing that outbreak size and probability are determined by between-host infection rates, we help uncover processes underlying transmission in multi-host pathogens (see here). |
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July 2017 - JSMF-SFI conference in Santa Fe Institute for Complex Systems II
This second workshop of the James S. McDonnell Foundation and Santa Fe Institute focused on presenting and discussing our current and future research. And included a trip to Bandelier National Monument! |
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May 2017 - I am now serving on the organizing committee of the SIAM Workshop for Network Science and of the Satellite Meeting in CCS2017 on Modeling of disease contagion processes 6th edition
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March 2017 - Our paper on the Nature of Ecological Multilayer Networks is out!
Along with Mason Porter, Mercedes Pascual and Sonia Kéfi we have put forward a framework for the study of multilayer ecological networks. The paper is now published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. |
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January 2017 - JSMF-SFI conference in Santa Fe Institute for Complex Systems I
The James S. McDonnell Foundation and Santa Fe Institute organized a joint workshop for postdocs at the amazing Santa Fe Institute in Santa Fe, NM. It was great to meet so many talented people with diverse research interests! Also the hikes were beautiful! |
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June 2016 - Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases
I participated in the EEID 2016 conference in Cornell, Ithaca. It was, as always a great conference with many interesting people and great projects. I also presented my own project on the Application of Multilayer Network to Disease Ecology. See it here. |
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May 2016 - Invited seminar speaker in University of California in Santa Barbara
I was invited by Prof. Kevin Lafferty and Prof Armand Kuris from the department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology to give a seminar at UCSB. It was an amazing opportunity to meet many interesting students and researchers in one of the most beautiful campuses I have been to. |
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August 2015 - University of Chicago!
I have recently moved to Chicago to start a postdoctoral position in the lab of Mercedes Pascual. My work will be funded by a JSMF postdoctoral fellowship for complex systems and by a Fulbright fellowship. |
Photo created using MuxViz
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July 2015
I participated in the workshop Mathematics and Physics of Multilayer Complex Networks, organized by Alex Arenas and Mason Porter. It was held in Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden, Germany. A wonderful experience, which enabled me to get to learn much better this exciting and promising new research domain. More importantly, I have met great people working on many cool things! |
Photo from: www.netsci2015.net/
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June 2015
I have attended the NetSci15 conference where I gave a talk titled "Potential parasite transmission in multi-host networks". NetSci is a cross-disciplinary conference and one of the most important meetings on network science. I discovered much of the state-of-the-art advances in networks science and met many interesting people! |
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June 2015
I was awarded a Fulbright fellowship for a postdoc in the USA. Highlight of Ben-Gurion University here. |
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May, 2015
I have been chosen to appear in the university's president report, which highlights the yearly achievements of the university. Have a look! |
March, 2015
Our paper "Potential Parasite Transmission in Multi-Host Networks Based on Parasite Sharing" was published in PLoS One. In this paper we examine for the first time disease transmission in multi-host networks. We show that these networks can provide new insights into the potential for transmission among hosts in an ecological community. We also examine how host attributed influence the structure of host-parasite networks.
You can find cool visualizations of the network data here and here.
Our paper "Potential Parasite Transmission in Multi-Host Networks Based on Parasite Sharing" was published in PLoS One. In this paper we examine for the first time disease transmission in multi-host networks. We show that these networks can provide new insights into the potential for transmission among hosts in an ecological community. We also examine how host attributed influence the structure of host-parasite networks.
You can find cool visualizations of the network data here and here.
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January 20, 2015
I gave my concluding PhD seminar! It was titled: "Dynamics and genetics of multi-host systems: implications for disease ecology". For the seminar, a good friend prepared me a bipartite network of marshmallows and waffles. Yammi! |
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December 2014
I have attended the BES-SFE Joint annual meeting where I gave a talk titled "Host-parasite network structure is associated with community-level immunogenetic diversity". I have received a travel grant from the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology to go the meeting. |
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October 2014
I was awarded the James S. McDonnell Foundation fellowship for a postdoctoral position. I will pursue the topic of 'Diffusion processes in networks of networks'. See a note in the BGU media here. |
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October 2014
Our paper Host–parasite network structure is associated with community-level immunogenetic diversity is out. In this work we bridge the fields of network ecology and immunogenetics by showing that indirect interactions among hosts and parasites affect the genetics of the immune system of the hosts. And so, the ecology of host-parasite interactions and the evolution of genes associated with the immune system are intertwined. See BGU news in English or Hebrew |
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September 2014
I was invited to Göttingen, Germany, to participate in a unique workshop on networks of networks organized by a joint research group from several German universities. During the workshop I gave a talk titled "Two approaches for modeling disease diffusion in networks of networks". |
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June 2014
I gave a talk titled "Host-parasite network structure is associated with divergence of an immuno-gene" in the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases conference, held in Fort Collins, USA. The talk went great and the conference was just amazing! So many nice people :) |
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May 2014
I was awarded the Ben-Gurion University Rector's Award and Prize for excellence. My son decides to take the diploma for me. But I didn't give him the money (well, at least not yet...) |
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April 2014
Our paper "Effects of water contamination on bat immune response" makes the cover of Mammalian Biology. In the paper we show, using a controlled experiment, that sewage water can influence the white-blood cell composition of bats. Our study provides a first account for the effect of sewage pollution on bat immune response which may be important in desert environments, where water sources are scarce. |
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March 2014
I gave an invited talk titles "Disease dynamics in interconnected host networks" in the 6th SIDEER symposium: Exploring real world networks. It was a great symposium, all about networks! |
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May 2013
Our paper "Temporal dynamics of direct reciprocal and indirect effects in a host–parasite network" was published in Journal of Animal Ecology. We show, for the first time, that the effects hosts and parasites exert on each other (e.g. hosts providing resources to parasites and parasites exploiting the resources of hosts) are driven by temporally-persistent species. However, effects of some species vary greatly with time while those of others are temporally-stable. |
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March-June 2013
I was a visiting academic in the lab of Jordi Bascompte in Sevilla, Spain. It was an amazing experience. The lab is just wonderful, with just the brightest network ecologists. Sevilla is a wonderful city, I just couldn't get enough! |
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February 2013
I have received the Aharon and Ephraim Katzir Felowship from the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities! |
