Alessandro Vespignani Explained

Alessandro Vespignani
Birth Date:4 April 1965
Workplaces:Leiden University
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
University of Paris-Sud
Indiana University
Northeastern University
Alma Mater:Sapienza University of Rome
Thesis1 Title:and
Thesis2 Title:)-->
Thesis1 Url:and
Thesis2 Url:)-->
Thesis1 Year:and
Thesis2 Year:)-->
Doctoral Advisors:)-->
Known For:network science
Mathematical modelling of infectious disease
computational epidemiology
Awards:List of American Physical Society Fellows
Fellows of the Network Science Society
Order of the Star of Italy
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Spouses:)-->
Partners:)-->

Alessandro Vespignani (born April 4, 1965) is an Italian-American physicist, best known for his work on complex networks, and particularly for work on the applications of network theory to the mathematical modeling of infectious disease, applications of computational epidemiology, and for studies of the topological properties of the Internet. He is currently the Sternberg Family Distinguished University Professor of Physics, Computer Science and Health Sciences at Northeastern University,[1] where he is the director of the Network Science Institute.

Vespignani and his team have contributed mathematical and computational modeling analysis on several disease outbreaks, including 2009 H1N1 flu, Ebola epidemic in West Africa, Zika epidemic, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vespignani is author, together with Romualdo Pastor-Satorras, of the book Evolution and Structure of the Internet. Together with Alain Barrat and Marc Barthelemy he has published in 2008 the monograph Dynamical Processes on Complex Networks.

Career and research

Vespignani received his undergraduate degree and Ph.D., both in physics and both from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, in 1990 and 1993, respectively. Following postdoctoral research at Yale University and Leiden University, he worked at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste for five years, and briefly at the University of Paris-Sud, before moving to Indiana University in 2004,[2] and then to Northeastern University in 2011.[3]

Vespignani has worked in a number of areas of physics, including characterization of non-equilibrium phenomena and phase transitions, computer science, network science and computational epidemiology. He has collaborated with, among others, Luciano Pietronero, Benoit Mandelbrot, Betz Halloran, Ira Longini, and David Lazer. He describes his current research as being focused on "interdisciplinary application of statistical and numerical simulation methods in the analysis of epidemic and spreading phenomena and the study of biological, social and technological networks."[4]

He is best known, however, for his work on complex networks. Of particular note is his work with Romualdo Pastor-Satorras, in which the two demonstrated that for a disease propagating on a random scale-free network the transmission probability or infectivity necessary to sustain an outbreak tends to zero in the limit of large network size. Vespignani’s works on modeling the spatial spread of epidemics includes the realistic and data-driven modeling of emerging infectious diseases,[5] and contributions to computational epidemiology by developing specific tools for the analysis of the global spread of epidemics.[6] [7]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vespignani’s team investigated[8] how travel and quarantine influenced the dynamics of the spread of SARS-CoV-2.[9] The modeling analysis mapped the early dispersal of infections and the temporal windows of the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 and onset of local transmission in Europe and the USA,[10] showing that hidden outbreaks were spreading almost completely undetected in major US cities.[11] Vespignani research contributed also to covid forecasting[12] [13] and scenario analysis.[14]

Honors

Vespignani is an elected fellow of the American Physical Society and the Network Science Society. He has been inducted in the Academia Europaea (section Physics and Engineering) in 2011.

Notable publications

References

  1. Web site: Homepage of Alessandro Vespignani. 17 May 2012.
  2. Web site: Scientist at Work: Alessandro Vespignani: IU News Room: Indiana University. newsinfo.iu.edu. 2019-04-17.
  3. Web site: Alex Vespignani. news.northeastern.edu. 707 . en-US. 2019-04-17.
  4. Web site: Alessandro Vespignani – Google Scholar Citations. scholar.google.com. 2018-07-28.
  5. Web site: Home. Center for Inference and Dynamics of Infectious Diseases. en-US. 2018-07-28.
  6. Web site: GLEAMviz.org. www.gleamviz.org. en. 2018-07-28.
  7. Web site: Using the power of prediction to halt Ebola in its tracks. PBS NewsHour. en-US. 2018-07-28. 2015-06-11.
  8. News: Carey . Benedict . 2020-03-13 . Mapping the Social Network of Coronavirus . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-09-21 . 0362-4331.
  9. Chinazzi . Matteo . Davis . Jessica T. . Ajelli . Marco . Gioannini . Corrado . Litvinova . Maria . Merler . Stefano . Pastore y Piontti . Ana . Mu . Kunpeng . Rossi . Luca . Sun . Kaiyuan . Viboud . Cécile . Xiong . Xinyue . Yu . Hongjie . Halloran . M. Elizabeth . Longini . Ira M. . 2020-04-24 . The effect of travel restrictions on the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak . Science . en . 368 . 6489 . 395–400 . 10.1126/science.aba9757 . 0036-8075 . 7164386 . 32144116. 2020Sci...368..395C .
  10. Davis . Jessica T. . Chinazzi . Matteo . Perra . Nicola . Mu . Kunpeng . Pastore y Piontti . Ana . Ajelli . Marco . Dean . Natalie E. . Gioannini . Corrado . Litvinova . Maria . Merler . Stefano . Rossi . Luca . Sun . Kaiyuan . Xiong . Xinyue . Longini . Ira M. . Halloran . M. Elizabeth . December 2021 . Cryptic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the first COVID-19 wave . Nature . en . 600 . 7887 . 127–132 . 10.1038/s41586-021-04130-w . 34695837 . 8636257 . 2021Natur.600..127D . 1476-4687.
  11. News: Carey . Benedict . Glanz . James . 2020-04-23 . Hidden Outbreaks Spread Through U.S. Cities Far Earlier Than Americans Knew, Estimates Say . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-09-21 . 0362-4331.
  12. Cramer . Estee Y. . Ray . Evan L. . Lopez . Velma K. . Bracher . Johannes . Brennen . Andrea . Castro Rivadeneira . Alvaro J. . Gerding . Aaron . Gneiting . Tilmann . House . Katie H. . Huang . Yuxin . Jayawardena . Dasuni . Kanji . Abdul H. . Khandelwal . Ayush . Le . Khoa . Mühlemann . Anja . 2022-04-08 . Evaluation of individual and ensemble probabilistic forecasts of COVID-19 mortality in the United States . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 119 . 15 . e2113561119 . 10.1073/pnas.2113561119 . free . 0027-8424 . 9169655 . 35394862. 2022PNAS..11913561C .
  13. Web site: CDC . 2020-02-11 . Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) . 2022-09-21 . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . en-us.
  14. Borchering . Rebecca K. . 2021 . Modeling of Future COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, by Vaccination Rates and Nonpharmaceutical Intervention Scenarios — United States, April–September 2021 . MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . en-us . 70 . 19 . 719–724 . 10.15585/mmwr.mm7019e3 . 33988185 . 8118153 . 0149-2195.
  15. Web site: Aspen Institute Italia Award for scientific research and collaboration between Italy and the United States Aspen Institute Italia. www.aspeninstitute.it. en. 2018-07-24.
  16. Web site: John Graunt Award. www.radboudumc.nl. en. 2019-04-17.
  17. Web site: CSS Awards. cssociety.org. 2019-04-17.
  18. Web site: Albo d'oro . 2022-09-07 . Premio Nazionale di Divulgazione Scientifica Giancarlo Dosi . en-US.
  19. Web site: NetSci – The Network Science Society . 2022-07-23 . netscisociety.net.
  20. Web site: Gazzetta Ufficiale . 2022-07-23 . www.gazzettaufficiale.it.
  21. Web site: n.villacorta . For his leadership on COVID-19, Alessandro Vespignani receives 'lifetime honor' from American Association for the Advancement of Science . 2023-06-20 . Northeastern University College of Science . 2 March 2023 . en-US.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Alessandro Vespignani".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.