{"id":4952,"date":"2019-09-06T16:36:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-06T16:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/?post_type=project&#038;p=4952"},"modified":"2019-10-11T16:07:34","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T16:07:34","slug":"from-antiretrovirals-to-zombies","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/project\/from-antiretrovirals-to-zombies\/","title":{"rendered":"From antiretrovirals to zombies: Meet the mathematician fighting infectious disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|0|0px|false|false&#8221;][et_pb_fullwidth_header title=&#8221;From antiretrovirals to zombies: Meet the mathematician fighting infectious disease&#8221; header_fullscreen=&#8221;on&#8221; content_orientation=&#8221;bottom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; title_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; title_text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; title_font_size=&#8221;49px&#8221; title_line_height=&#8221;1.2em&#8221; title_text_shadow_style=&#8221;preset1&#8243; title_text_shadow_horizontal_length=&#8221;0.05em&#8221; title_text_shadow_vertical_length=&#8221;-0.07em&#8221; title_text_shadow_blur_strength=&#8221;0.07em&#8221; title_text_shadow_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; content_font=&#8221;|800|||||||&#8221; content_text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; content_font_size=&#8221;25px&#8221; content_line_height=&#8221;2.9em&#8221; content_text_shadow_style=&#8221;preset1&#8243; content_text_shadow_horizontal_length=&#8221;0.04em&#8221; content_text_shadow_vertical_length=&#8221;-0.1em&#8221; content_text_shadow_blur_strength=&#8221;0.18em&#8221; content_text_shadow_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; subhead_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; subhead_text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; subhead_font_size=&#8221;21px&#8221; subhead_line_height=&#8221;1.4em&#8221; subhead_text_shadow_style=&#8221;preset4&#8243; subhead_text_shadow_horizontal_length=&#8221;0.08em&#8221; background_image=&#8221;https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8427-1.jpg&#8221; parallax=&#8221;on&#8221; transform_translate=&#8221;-1px|0px&#8221; custom_css_title=&#8221;width:800px;&#8221; custom_css_content=&#8221;width:800px;&#8221; custom_css_subtitle=&#8221;width:800px;&#8221;]<p><strong>By Raisa Patel<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|6px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve ever wanted to know who holds the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guinnessworldrecords.com\/world-records\/first-mathematical-model-for-surviving-a-zombie-attack\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Guinness World Record<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for developing the first mathematical model for surviving a zombie attack, look no further than the University of Ottawa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mathematician Robert Smith? \u2014 yes, the question mark is part of his name \u2014 and three of his students were awarded the honour in 2014 after they created a model that determined how to best contain and eradicate an onslaught of the undead. The model was originally published in 2009 and led to Smith?\u2019s name appearing in news coverage across Canada and the world. (As for that question mark, Smith? added it to his name to differentiate himself from countless researchers with the same moniker.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But before the media blitz \u2014 and the time Morgan Freeman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rkntX-_wp5A\">narrated<\/a> Smith?\u2019s apocalyptic theories for an episode of Through the Wormhole \u2014 there was simply a mathematician from Sydney, Australia interested in using math to study infectious disease. <\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; max_width=&#8221;85%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p7_Bin3GMn8?start=8\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|15px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; max_width=&#8221;84%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<p>Source: The Science Channel<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;8px|0px|27px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I loved that you could conceptualize disease,\u201d said 46-year-old Smith? from his University of Ottawa office, where he\u2019s tacked stuffed versions of viruses and bacteria onto a bulletin board. \u201cI was as fascinated by the disease stuff maybe more than I was with mathematics.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The conceptualizing Smith? is referring to is known as the mathematical modelling of infectious disease. It\u2019s a subset of applied math that involves using equations to predict outcomes like the spread of a disease, how an outbreak might unfold or how to fight an epidemic before it gets out of hand. It\u2019s a particularly useful tool in the field of epidemiology, but Smith? has also used mathematical modelling to study immunology, or how our bodies fight infectious disease. That\u2019s when he first realized he could combine math and public health.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|13px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;right&#8221;]<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith? took his first immunology course at Western University alongside the school\u2019s medical students. He had just finished a PhD in math and was embarking on the first of three postdocs in the second half of his academic career. But as much as he loved the order and beauty of equations, Smith? was more interested in using math to solve real-world problems. One of them was the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width=&#8221;79%&#8221;]<blockquote>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>&#8220;The moment I discovered I could apply [math] to HIV modelling, that&#8217;s where I went, \u2018Oh! I know what I want to do when I grow up.\u2019\u201d<\/em> &#8211; Robert Smith?<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;6px|0px|27px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The moment I discovered I could apply [math] to HIV modelling, that&#8217;s where I went, \u2018Oh! I know what I want to do when I grow up,\u2019\u201d the professor recalled. \u201c I was 28 years old. That was a great moment of revelation.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In some of his earliest work with the virus, Smith? sought to determine how many doses of antiretroviral HIV drugs could be missed before resistance to the drug occurred. He used a mathematical technique that had rarely been applied to disease: impulsive differential equations. The technique involved studying an \u201cimpulse\u201d moment (in this case, taking a pill), quantifying how many doses could be missed and finding out how many pills could safely be taken to make up for those that were skipped. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith? found that an in-between level of drugs \u2014 not too high, not too low \u2014 was the danger zone. In this case, a mutant form of the virus would dominate and effectively become a replacement strain of the disease. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">&#8220;We were basically able to quantify where exactly you find these thresholds,\u201d Smith? explained.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">The study represented the nexus of Smith?\u2019s main research interests: mathematics, biology and human behaviour. Over the course of his career, the mathematician has used modelling to study more than 20 diseases and a number of related topics, including the efficacy of various vaccines and best practices for malaria control.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;12px|0px|2px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Modelling disease across the globe<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith? was eventually drawn to studying tropical diseases, like leprosy or sleeping sickness, so that he could focus on illnesses that were receiving less attention. That meant entering into a life of near-constant travel. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy research has taken me all over the world,\u201d Smith? said, standing up and hiking his jeans above his left calf. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A &#8220;scratch map\u201d emerges, black outlines of countries and continents with the places that Smith? has visited brightly filled in. It\u2019s just one of his 10 tattoos, which include a representation of chaos theory on his left bicep and the word \u201cvegan\u201d etched onto his hand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith? has studied rotavirus in Chile, HIV in India and tuberculosis in the Philippines \u2014 and that\u2019s just a small sample of his travels. The mathematician barely has a daily routine as a result, particularly during his current sabbatical period. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI put a lot of work into not having a day in the life,\u201d Smith? joked. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s clear from a quick glance around his office: Smith?\u2019s department moved into the University of Ottawa\u2019s new STEM complex in October, but there are still unpacked boxes on the floor of his office and he\u2019s 40 digits off when he tries to recall the room number. <\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;42px|0px|10px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_8429.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; max_width=&#8221;85%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|27px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; max_width=&#8221;85%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<p><span>In his office, Smith?, holds an autographed memento of his meeting with George A. Romero, director of the 1968 zombie cult classic Night of the Living Dead. In 2009, Smith? was invited to Hollywood to meet a group of scientists and directors intent on improving scientific accuracy in film. [Photo \u00a9 Raisa Patel]<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|27px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>\u201cThe secret to everything\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Smith? is overseas, he also makes educating students and other experts a priority. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">&#8220;I do a mix of working with people locally on various projects and also teaching,\u201d said Smith?, who teaches disease modelling whenever he can. &#8220;The more I&#8217;ve gone on in my career, the more I&#8217;ve realized the sheer value of education in the world. Education is probably the secret to everything.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|0|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;right&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">University of Ottawa epidemiologist Ann Jolly first met Smith? at a 2007 event that brought together Canada\u2019s public health researchers and mathematicians. When Smith? got a job teaching math at the university that year, Jolly was surprised. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI couldn&#8217;t believe that he wanted a job here,\u201d Jolly said. \u201cI was like, \u2018What the heck?\u2019 He could do anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jolly described her colleague as \u201ccreative, imaginative and extremely scientifically rigorous.\u201d This is especially the case, she added, regarding his role as a professor.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/catalyst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/CameraRoll_26.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;left&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|27px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;right&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;When you go to his presentations, he makes the most frickin&#8217; complicated math sound logical. You can really apply it. He&#8217;s just a fantastic teacher,\u201d Jolly said. The two supervise graduate students together and hope to jointly conduct research on vaccine hesitancy in the near future.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;left&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><br \/>Smith?, third from right, is a visiting lecturer for the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). Earlier this year,\u00a0 he taught modelling and academic writing for the AIMS centre in Cameroon. [Photo \u00a9 Jean Riszk]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|27px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith? assumed he\u2019d become a high school teacher, but taught his first university-level classes in linear algebra and calculus in 2001 during the tail end of his PhD. These days, he teaches a handful of courses ranging from chaos theory to disease modelling. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emily Thompson, a first-year Master of Epidemiology student at the University of Ottawa, said she\u2019s lucky to boast Smith? as her thesis supervisor. Unlike most advisors, who graduate students are expected to court for supervision, Smith? offered to work with Thompson when he heard she was interested in modelling respiratory viruses. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHe&#8217;s very, very prolific. I was really intimidated. If you go on his website, he has so much research and he&#8217;s done so much stuff that I was absolutely terrified of meeting him,\u201d Thompson said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But his approachable teaching style and habit of starting his lab groups by asking students to mention something positive that recently happened to them changed her view.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I struggle a lot with confidence,\u201d Thompson said, \u201cand I don&#8217;t feel stupid around him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides his welcoming nature, Thompson said there\u2019s something else that makes her professor endearing: the fact that Smith? is a \u201cgiant nerd.\u201d <\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;1px|0px|0|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Defeating the undead<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Jennel Recoskie, Smith?\u2019s girlfriend, first heard that her boyfriend\u2019s research included zombie outbreaks, she was silenced into disbelief.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;My jaw just kind of hung open while I processed what that was. I was like, \u2018Really? That&#8217;s what you do?\u2019&#8221; Recoskie said. &#8220;It sounds so different and so amazing than just your regular run-of-the-mill job.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s just a small part of his oeuvre, but studying zombies has been part of Smith?\u2019s research since 2007. During his infectious disease modelling course, a group of his students asked if they could create a model of a zombie attack for a class project. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I loved it because I&#8217;m a pop culture person,&#8221; said Smith?, who has also curated books of essays on television shows like Doctor Who, Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. &#8220;I&#8217;d been a science fiction person my whole life. I had an immediate obvious vision that this would be a great class presentation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The presentation turned into a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mysite.science.uottawa.ca\/rsmith43\/Zombies.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">published paper<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on a zombie outbreak model, which found that \u201conly sufficiently frequent attacks, with increasing force, will result in eradication\u201d. Smith?\u2019s intent was always to apply the skills learned from this model to real-world diseases, which is something the professor and his students have accomplished.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|3px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_code _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][\/et_pb_code][et_pb_code _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<div class=\"embed-documentcloud\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/note_embed\/note_embed.css\" type=\"text\/css\"> <div class=\"DC-embed DC-embed-note DC-note-container\"> <div class=\"DC-note\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/6154367\/pages\/When-Zombies-Attack-Mathematical-Modelling-of-an-p14-normal.gif')\"> <div class=\"DC-note-header\"> <a class=\"DC-note-embed-resource\" title=\"View the note \u201cKey findings from the model\u201d in its original document context on DocumentCloud in a new window or tab\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/6154367-When-Zombies-Attack-Mathematical-Modelling-of-an.html#document\/p14\/a507318\"><span class=\"DC-note-title\">Key findings from the model<\/span> <span class=\"DC-note-page-number\">(p. 14)<\/span><\/a> <\/div> <div class=\"DC-note-image-max-bounds\" style=\"max-height:235px;max-width:475px;\"> <div class=\"DC-note-image-aspect-ratio\" style=\"padding-bottom:49.473684210526315%;\"> <iframe class=\"DC-note-image-space-filler\" src=\"\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/6154367-When-Zombies-Attack-Mathematical-Modelling-of-an\/annotations\/507318.html?embed=true&amp;maxheight=1000&amp;maxwidth=1080\" title=\"Note \u201cKey findings from the model\u201d on document \u201cWhen Zombies Attack!: Mathematical Modelling of an Outbreak of Zombie Infection (2009)\u201d\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe> <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"DC-note-body\"><\/div> <div class=\"DC-note-credit\"> <a title=\"View the note \u201cKey findings from the model\u201d in its original document context on DocumentCloud in a new window or tab\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/6154367-When-Zombies-Attack-Mathematical-Modelling-of-an.html#document\/p14\/a507318\">View entire document on <span class='DC-note-logotype-link'>DocumentCloud<\/span><\/a> <\/div> <div class=\"DC-note-background-fader\"><\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/div>[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=&#8221;0|0px|27px|0px|false|false&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.21&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; max_width=&#8221;90%&#8221; module_alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhile the scenarios considered are obviously not realistic, it is nevertheless instructive to develop mathematical models for an unusual outbreak,\u201d the 18-page paper noted. \u201cThis demonstrates the flexibility of mathematical modelling and shows how modelling can respond to a wide variety of challenges in \u2018biology\u2019.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recoskie said that so far, she has yet to see Smith? in action, either behind the lectern or presenting on stage. But even so, it\u2019s where she thinks he probably thrives.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cHe&#8217;s in his glory when he&#8217;s in front of a group of people and he&#8217;s talking about what he passionately loves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve ever wanted to know who holds the Guinness World Record for developing the first mathematical model for surviving a zombie attack, look no further than the University of Ottawa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":4983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[134],"project_tag":[],"class_list":["post-4952","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-profile"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.3 - 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