Welcome to our newest principal investigator, Claire Guinat!14 Nov 2022
With great pleasure we can announce the arrival of our newest principal investigator, Claire Guinat. Coming to us from ETH Zürich, Claire is a veterinary epidemiologist with an impressive array of inter-disciplinary research skills, ranging from risk factor analysis to mechanistic modelling to phylogenetics. Here, she will be primarily applying phylodynamic approaches to explore infectious disease tranmission patterns among livestock. Welcome Claire! |
Welcome Sophie and Oksana!4 Nov 2022
A warmest welcome our two newest PhD candidates, Sophie Planchand and Oksana Saccavini. Following successful internships in our lab, they will both be joining the fight against avian influenza: one from an epidemiological approach and one from a biosecurity perspective. Sophie will be investigating the diffusion of avian influenza within poultry farms under Timothée Vergne, and Oksana will research biosecurity practices of poultry farms involved in local food systems under Mathilde Paul. Best of luck to you both! |
Annual Epidesa Retreat 202225 July 2022
The end of another academic year was celebrated together through the annual Epidesa Retreat, where two days of camaraderie, revelry, and interpersonal growth were enjoyed by all in attendance! Stepping away from the discipline-specific scholastic mindset, this year’s retreat focused on transversal themes — highlighted with the presentation Climate Change and Our Role as Scientists. We all play a role in shaping our world and the world around us, which means being mindful of our impacts while also considering our responsibilities as voices of science. More than just presentations however, the Epidesa team also put their minds together to foster future collaborations: through identifying intersectional competencies via an ideation matrix, and designing their dream laboratory environment. Following a busy and productive day, the evening came to a close with another infamous live music sing-along jam session. As the 2021–2022 academic year ends, we look forward to another great year ahead! |
Congratulations Billy!1 May 2022
Hearty congratulations to Billy Bauzile for the successful defense of his thesis: “Towards a better understanding of transmission determinants of avian influenza in southwest France.” The culmination of years of research, through his PhD Billy has helped further inform the drivers behind and transmission dynamics of highly-pathogenic avian influenza H5N8. Using network modelling and his data analytics toolset, Billy was able to further disentangle the contributions of duck movement contacts and duck farm density towards epidemic propagation, yielding results that will be important for further informing policy decisions. Congrats Billy and best of luck on your next adventure! |
Contributing to European poultry biosecurity31 March 2022
SVEPM was not the only important meeting this month. Last week post-doc fellow Mattias Delpont and research engineer Luis Salazar traveled to the University of Padua for the mid-term general meeting of NetPoulSafe — a trans-European group dedicated to improving measures of poultry biosecurity and associated compliance. Here, they participated in progress report presentations and formal discussions to assist in identifying successful solutions as Europe continues to confront the ever-present threat of HPAI. |
SVEPM2022 a success!30 March 2022
Following two years of exclusively-online conferences, the annual conference for the Society of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at last was able to return to the in-person format — and what a success it was! Over 200 delegates from 24 countries arrived in Belfast, UK to present the latest research in disease management among animal populations. The EPIDESA team was well represented, having been awarded presentation spots for post-doctoral fellow Sebastian Moya Duran, PhD student Brandon Hayes, and associate professor Timothée Vergne, for their work on the influence of peers in antibiotic prescribing practices by avian veterinarians, modelling the transmission of the African swine fever virus at the domestic-wildlife interface, and the impact of duck farm density reduction for preventing HPAI emergence, respectively. As an added bonus, Brandon Hayes was even awarded the coveted prize for the best oral communication! Kudos all around for an excellent conference, with many thanks to both the organizers and participants. And of course, we look forward to hosting everyone next year, for SVEPM2023 here in Toulouse! |
Congrats Billy on your latest publication2 February 2022
Congratulations to Billy Bauzile for his most recent publication Unravelling direct and indirect contact patterns between duck farms in France and their association with the 2016–2017 epidemic of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N8), published in Preventive Veterinary Medicine. Faced with the everpresent threat of HPAI, continued research against this devastating disease is critical for helping improve the protection of France's palmiped (duck and goose) and poultry farms. Way to go Billy! |
Welcome to our newest members!17 January 2022
Epidesa is thrilled to announce the arrival of our newest teammates Vai Costes-Ori, Pauline Michel, and Jun-Sik Lim. Vai, a data scientist with a background in applied mathematics, joins us as a research engineer where she will contribute across multiple animal disease epidemiology projects. Pauline, coming to us from the French Ministry of Agriculture, brings a different skillset with her background in the science of education and linguistic and educative policies. As an educational engineer, she will design training for animal health professionals to improve food security and foster continued collaboration between French and Ethiopian stakeholders. Jun-Sik, a veterinary epidemiologist and our newest PhD student, comes to us all the way from the Republic of Korea. Over the next 3 years he will lend his talents to the Epidesa group, where he will seek to unravel the transmission dynamics of African swine fever in the Republic of Korea. |
Timothée Vergne earns his HDR!2 September 2021
Epidesa leader Tim Vergne achieved the highest diploma awarded by French universities today. Following his capstone presentation "The Contribution of Quantitative Epidemiology to the Improvement of Animal Disease Management Strategies", he was awarded his habilitation à diriger des recherches, qualifying him to supervise research. Congrats Tim!! |
Fabien Corbière awarded full professorship11 July 2021
Heartiest congratulations to Professor Corbière, DVM, MSc, PhD! Following 24 straight hours of research and presentation creation, Fabien successfully delivered his opus – Introduction to diagnostic strategies for collective ruminant medicine – and was subsequently awarded his full professorship. His current research, focused around Johne’s disease (paratuberculosis) and the profiling of the cellular immune response, involves the evaluation of diagnostics and disease control strategies through the application of statistical models. We are lucky to have Fabien as part of the Epidesa team! |
The (In)Famous Annual Epidesa Retreat30 June 2021
Following a long year of tele-travail, the Epidesa team was at last able to get together for 2 days of team building, bonding and revelry. After beginning the day with a workshop on how to make award-winning conference posters – hosted by Mattias Delpont – the afternoon was spent in team building workshops. Through the expertise of Maud Yakovleff, a veterinarian who has also completed training in facilitation and team dymamics, the Epidesa group learned how to improve their listening to each other, better understand their individual and collective roles within the research team, and critically reflect upon their organization and themselves. It was not all work however, as the evening was split between the pool, the petanque court, and the improvised music stage! |
Welcome to our newest members31 May 2021
It is with great pleasure that we welcome Sebastian Moya and Luis Salazar to our Epidesa team! Sebastian, a veterinarian with a PhD in Animal Medicine and Health from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, comes to us as a post-doc where he will focus his skills towards the ever-pressing issue of antimicrobial stewardship, researching in poultry and swine systems. Luis, a veterinary epidemiologist with a background in One Health and infectious disease, is joining Epidesa following his employ at ANSES, The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety. Luis’ background in complex systems modeling for African Swine Fever will be a great asset to Epidesa’s research, as will his impressive swing dancing skills which he will hopefully teach to his new team! |
Tech forum a success6 May 2021
Brandon Hayes, a mathematical modeling PhD student here at ENVT, successfully designed and led the unit-wide instructional Spatial visualization of health events: A hands-on practical with R. Covering both theoretical and practical objectives, attendees gained an understanding of computational cartography, learned of sources of publically available data for use in their own research, as well as how to create static base maps, generate interactive maps for data exploration, and produce chloropleth maps, bubble plots, and more. |
Congratulations Dr. Dr. Mattias Delpont21 April 2021
The culmination of years of dedication and hard work was witnessed earlier this month when EPIDESA member Mattias Delpont defended his PhD thesis, entitled “Observance of biosecurity measures in French poultry farms: practices and attitudes”. Already a board-certified veterinary specialist and diplomate of the European College of Poultry Veterinary Science, Mattias is now the holder of a PhD in epidemiology, which he will use to continue to advance poultry biosecurity from his new post as a post-doctoral researcher here at ENVT. Thanks to contributions to biosecurity like Mattias’, the threat of avian influenza and other poultry diseases will continue to be diminished for the benefit of both farmers and consumers in France. |
SVEPM conference a success31 March 2021
Despite being unable to gather in person, the organizing committee for the 2021 Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine annual conference, here in Toulouse, put together a great virtual experience for all in attendance! Hosted on the inviteo platform, the conference experience was replicated as well as possible with participants able to interact in lectures, chat with other participants via text or video, and browse numerous research posters. Kicking off the conference was a captivating keynote by epidemiologist Sir John Edmunds of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, on supporting policy decisions through modelling in real time. Further topics ranged from animal infectious diseases to antimicrobial resistance to policy and decision support, including two excellent lectures from our own EPIDESA members Debapriyo Chakraborty and Billy Bauzile, and poster submissions from both EPIDESA members Mattias Delpont and Brandon Hayes and affiliated researchers Jun-Sik Lim, Alberto Allepuz and Giovanna Ciaravino. Like all good things that must end, the conference wrapped-up successfully, though not before a glimpse of what awaits us all next year — SVEPM 2022 hosted in Belfast, Northern Ireland! |
Mathilde Paul featured in Le Monde18 January 2021
This past Saturday, January 16th, our very own Professor Mathilde Paul was featured in a column in Le Monde regarding the recent H5N8 Avian Influenza (AI) outbreaks. This deadly virus poses a grave threat to the poultry industry, especially here in the Southwest. As Professor Paul identifies, great strides have been made in improving biosecurity since the last AI outbreak, however given the incredible contagiousness of the current strain there is still plenty of work to be done. Congratulations Mathilde in such recognition of your world-class expertise! |
Debut of the Innotub project9 December 2020
The Innotub project is starting! In collaboration with the UAB, CreSA, IRTA, NEIKER and Anses, scientists from the EPIDESA team will contribute to improving bovine tuberculosis control in cattle and wildlife in the transboundary region between France and Spain. This research project of two years, funded by the European programme INTERREG POCTEFA 2014-2020, is expected to shed new light on the impact that biosecurity practices have on bovine tuberculosis risk. For more information, please visit the Innotub website. |
Congratulations Professor Mathilde Paul1 September 2020
Sincerest congratulates to Professor Mathilde Paul, DVM, MSc, PhD on her latest accomplishment of achieving full professorship in veterinary epidemiology! After a grueling 24 hours of research and presentation, Professor Paul passed her qualification with flying colors. Mathilde graduated from the National Veterinary School of Alfort in 2005 and then went on to earn a Master and PhD in health geography from CIRAD/INRA. There, she conducted spatial and risk factor analysis of HPAI as well as researched the social anthropology associated with HPAI spread in Thailand. After earning her PhD, Mathilde completed a post-doc at CIRAD where she conducted spatial modeling of avian influenza throughout southeast Asia. In 2012 we were fortunate to receive Mathilde as a member of the ENVT faculty, where she now teaches epidemiology and researches avian influenza and antimicrobial stewardship. Congratulations Mathilde! |
The academic year commences1 September 2020
After a much needed summer holiday, the academic year is back in full swing for the EPIDEC team. The first priority was to celebrate the summer birthdays that occurred in everyone's absence, and so a "Back to School" themed lunch potluck was organized thanks to our birthday coordinator Ikram — and we couldn't have asked for better weather (one of many benefits of life in southwest France)! Later that week, the reunion continued into the weekend at the nearby Caporal brasserie and beer garden where regional specialties like magrets de canard were enjoyed alongside locally-brewed beer. It's often not easy to get back into the pace of work, but with camaraderie and after-work perks like these, it's not difficult at all! |
Academic exchange at Anses Ploufragan on ASF and HPAI10 March 2020
Post-doc researcher Debapriyo Chakraborty and doctoral student Brandon Hayes had the pleasure of visiting their colleagues to the north in Ploufragan the first week of March. Kindly hosted by Mathieu Andraud and the team at ANSES, Debo and Brandon experienced scientific and social life in Brittany. The week began by touring state-of-art swine and poultry experimental facilities. The next day followed with a tour of the hi-tech reference laboratory, where analytical ideas and collaboration on African Swine Fever and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza were discussed. The day ended with dinner at local crêperie, where Debo and Brandon experienced their first taste of savory “crêpe bretonne”. It is safe to say they enjoyed the experience, as the dinner plates were practically licked clean and they made it a priority to find galette to bring back to Toulouse with them! |
Debo Chakraborty is starting as a postdoc scientist04 February 2020
Debapriyo Chakraborty studies processes at the intersections of ecology, evolution and epidemiology of pathogens to provide data-driven solutions to manage infectious disease emergence and their spread at the wildlife-livestock-human interface. He has a PhD in molecular phylogenetics and population genetics (Manipal University, India). Before joining EPIDEC, he was a senior research scientist at EcoHealth Alliance, New York and conducted zoonotic viral surveillance as part of the USAID-PREDICT 2 programme. He is a former Fulbright Fellow in public health (Duke University, USA). At EPIDEC, he will study the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) epidemic in France (2016-17) using evolutionary and epidemiological models to (1) reconstruct and time the epidemic evolution, (2) estimate important epidemiological parameters, (3) detect the feedback dynamic between evolutionary and epidemiological processes, and (4) assess the impact of interventions on the virus population size. |
Brandon Hayes is now in the place!21 January 2020
We are pleased to welcome Brandon Hayes to the EPIDEC team. Brandon is a veterinary epidemiologist, joining the EPIDEC group to research African Swine Fever transmission dynamics. He holds a doctoral degree in veterinary medicine awarded by Western University of Health Sciences and a masters in public health from the University of Minnesota, along with certificates in quantitative risk analysis and infectious disease modelling. The primary objective of his PhD is to model the transmission of African Swine Fever between wild boar and domestic pigs, in the context of the French swine industry, to inform decision-analysis should a sanitary crisis arise in France. Brandon will be supervised by Timothee Vergne of ENVT and both Nicolas Rose and Mathieu Andraud of ANSES, with funding generously provided by Agreenium and INAPORC. |
Science in comics18 January 2020
How would you present your PhD work in 180 seconds? This is what many PhD students try to do each year in a international contest, called "Ma thèse en 180 secondes". How would you draw those 180-second-presentations in a comic? That is what Mattias Delpont, a PhD student from our team did with his quirky sense of humour for the two 2019 regional winners, Clair Chaigne and Maxime Pineau. Their oral presentations and the associated comic pages (both in French) are proposed on "Exploreur", a website dedicated to science popularisation. |
Congratulations to Mattias Delpont!05 December 2019
Congratulations to Mattias Delpont for successfully passing the exam of the European College of Poultry Veterinay Science (ECPVS), making him an officially recognised expert in poultry science. This expertise encompasses poultry health, welfare and the production of safe and high quality products for consumers, in view of a sustainable agriculture. The exam took place in Vienna on the 2nd and 3rd of December, at the university of veterinary medicine. He prepared the exam under the supervision of Jean-Luc Guerin, professor in poultry medicine at the ENVT. Mattias is currently conducting a PhD on biosecurity in poultry farms. |
Journées Scientifiques de l'Association pour l'étude de l'épidémio des maladies animales
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SVEPM Conference in Utrecht, 201931 March 2019
The annual conference of the Society of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine was held in Utrech from 27 to 29 March. As usual, the conference went down very well with an excellent atmosphere and exciting scientific discussions. The ENVT was very well represented with 3 (out of the 21) presentations: Mattias Delpont (Determinants of biosecurity compliance in French duck farms: the role of farmers'knowledge, attitude and personality traits), Ahmed Ferchiou (Business models of French veterinary structures in rural areas and regulation of veterinary drug delivery) and Amélie Mugnier from the NeoCare group (A breed-specific approach using birth weight as a risk factor for neonatal mortality in canines). Tim Vergne chaired the session "Modelling and risk assessment" and was granted the best poster award in the category "Bridging the gaps between science and policy" for Claire Guinat's poster on "Optimising early detection of avian influenza H7N9 in live bird markets in Vietnam". Well done everyone! |
Claire Guinat is granted a Marie Curie individual fellowship14 March 2019
Big congratulations to Claire GUINAT, postdoc in the EPIDEC group, who was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship for her research project DIGDEEP. DIGDEEP aims at developing alternative control strategies tailored to the characteristics of avian influenza virus (AIV) evolution and transmission in order to minimize the global economic and health impact of the disease. The project will use cutting-edge phylodynamic inference methods to explore devastating and unprecedented epidemics of AIV in Europe and Asia. The outcomes of the project will allow to infer key epidemiological parameters of the virus spread, characterize the determinants of the epidemics and assess the effectiveness of public and animal health interventions. This fellowship will be supervised by Dr Tanja Stadler from ETH Zurich and Dr Mariette Ducatez from ENVT-INRA. Congratulations to Claire! |
Welcome to our new PhD student, Billy Bauzile!12 March 2019
Since March 1st 2019, Billy has joined the EPIDEC group to start his PhD project entitled "Modelling and real-time decision making: application to the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N8) virus in France (2016-2017)". Embedded in the AI-TRACK project funded by the FEDER and the Occitanie region, Billy's project aims at assessing how mathematical models can be used in real time to define adapted surveillance and intervention strategies in the situation of an animal disease emergence. To reach this objective, epidemiological data linked to the French HPAI H5N8 epidemic will be used to calibrate a mathematical model of HPAI spread in France that will incorporate the spatio-temporal dynamics of the farm contact network, as well as their geographical proximity. Billy will be supervised by Timothée Vergne and Mathilde Paul. Good luck to Billy on his project! |
Congratulation to Mathilde Paul!13 February 2019
On the 12 February 2019, Mathilde successfully defended her "Accreditation to Supervise Reseach" (in French HDR = Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches). This is the highest diploma you can get from a French University. Well done, you deserve your glass of champagne, Mathilde! |
The AI-TRACK project has started!07 February 2019
Here we go, the AI-TRACK project has started! Entitled « Epidemiological Tracking of Avian Influenza Viruses », this project aims at understanding transmission processes of avian influenza viruses between farms and at the interface between wildlife and domestic compartments. It is coordinated by Dr. Mathilde Paul et brings together the EPIDEC and Virology teams of the UMR ENVT-INRA IHAP, the UMR CIRAD-INRA ASTRE (Montpellier, France) and the private company IDVet. It is funded for three years by the Occitanie Region and the Fonds Européen de Développement Régional (FEDER). The kick-off meeting took place on February 6 2019, on the campus of the National Veterinary School of Toulouse. |
Welcome to Jérémy Lesueur!22 January 2019
Jérémy has just been recruited as a teaching and research assistant in precision livestock farming. He graduated from Oniris, the National Veterinary School of Nantes in 2017 and then pursued his veterinary studies with a Master of Science in ecological modelling. The aim of his PhD project is to determine the dairy cows' typology in the peripartum period to better understand the mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to pathogens. The study mainly involves machine learning methods applied to health, genetic and immunological data. |
International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
19 November 2018
From the 12th to the 16th of November 2018, the INSVEE15 took place in Chiang Mai, Thailand. With more than 1000 delegates from all continents, more than 300 oral presentations in six parallel sessions and more than 200 scientific posters, this tri-annual conference is clearly the must-go conference in veterinary epidemiology and economics. This year, Mattias Delpont, Claire Guinat and Timothée Vergne represented the EPIDEC group and altogether gave seven presentations on various topics such as avian influenza in France or Vietnam, biosecurity and African swine fever. Claire and Timothée were invited to contribute to a special session on the emergence of African swine fever in China. The next ISVEE conferences will be in Halifax (Canada, 2021) and Sydney (Australia, 2024). |
The National Veterinary School of Toulouse is approved by the ECVPH08 November 2018
On the 5th of November, the ENVT became the first French institution to be approved by the European College of Veterinary Public Health (ECVPH) in both specialties: "food science" and "population medicine". Hubert Brugère and Timothée Vergne are now the residency programme directors of the specialties food science and population medicine, respectively and are warmly welcoming any veterinarian eager to become a recognised specialist in veterinary public health! |
The GIMAT master students are now heading to Montpellier
01 November 2018
This year, 6 French and 2 Algerian students joined the GIMAT course (Global Management of Tropical Animal Diseases) that aims at training specialists of animal diseases or risk managers tackling the emergence and spread of animal and zoonotic diseases. Epidec members guided these young veterinarians through the understanding of tropical production systems, statistics applied to epidemiology, economics of animal health during a month. Other ENVT colleagues gave lectures and practicals around tropical diseases and zoonosis. They are now heading to CIRAD in Montpellier for 8 weeks during which they will be given training around surveillance, information systems, and One Health approach before an internship abroad from January to June. We will follow them closely in the coming months and wish them success in their respective and exciting research projects! |
Scientific symposium of the INRA animal health department10 October 2018
From 08/10/18 to 11/10/18, the animal health department of INRA organised its bi-annual scientific symposium, bringing together members of all of its research units. The EPIDEC team was well represented with four members. Jean-Joseph Minviel presented a poster and Mattias Delpont, Claire Guinat and Timothée Vergne gave three plenary presentations. Now it is time to go to the gala dinner, yipeee!! |