Oxford Mathematician Robin Thompson has been awarded the Journal of Clinical Medicine “Outstanding Research Award 2020” for his contribution of using mathematical models to represent the epidemiological or evolutionary behavior of infectious disease outbreaks.
Robin's paper “Novel Coronavirus Outbreak in Wuhan, China, 2020: Intense Surveillance Is Vital for Preventing Sustained Transmission in New Locations” published in February 2020 was recognised as recommended reading by the World Health Organization. The aim of the paper was not only to generate forecasts of specific outbreaks but also to understand how diseases spread such that forecasts can be made, and control interventions can be planned with more precision.
In April Robin gave an Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture explaining for a general audience how mathematicians model infectious diseases. Much of the content has now passed in to common parlance. The lecture can be found below.