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Maíra Aguiar

Group Leader. Ikerbasque Research Associate

T +34 946 567 842
F +34 946 567 842
E maguiar@bcamath.org

Information of interest

I am a biologist by training, highly trained in nonlinear dynamics, bifurcation analysis and biostatistics. Using methods from dynamical systems theory and stochastic processes, my work consists of developing and analyzing descriptive and predictive models of infectious diseases, addressing significant mathematical problems and fundamental
questions in biology, which require a highly interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary approach.

With special focus on the study of dengue fever (and other vector borne diseases) and its dynamics, I develop mathematical models to identify possible approaches to control disease transmission and for assessing the potential impact of different intervention measures.

My research interests are focused on public health epidemiology with emphasis on: i) Epidemiological dynamics of multi-strain infectious diseases; ii) Interplay between pathogen serotypes and cross-immunity; iii) Epidemiological dynamics of vaccine preventable diseases; iv) Epidemiological dynamics of vector-pathogen-host interaction; v) Within-host dynamics focusing on immune responses; vi) Complex dynamics, empirical data analysis and public health intervention measures.

  • Within-host models unravelling the dynamics of dengue reinfections 

    Anam, V.Autoridad BCAM; Guerrero, B.V.Autoridad BCAM; Srivastav, A.K.Autoridad BCAM; Stollenwerk, N.Autoridad BCAM; Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM (2024-02-07)
    Caused by four serotypes, dengue fever is a major public health concern worldwide. Current modeling efforts have mostly focused on primary and heterologous secondary infections, assuming that lifelong immunity prevents ...
  • Optimal vaccine allocation for the control of sexually transmitted infections 

    Saldaña, F.Autoridad BCAM; Steindorf, V.Autoridad BCAM; Srivastav, A.K.Autoridad BCAM; Stollenwerk, N.Autoridad BCAM; Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM (2023-04-15)
    The burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) poses a challenge due to its large negative impact on sexual and reproductive health worldwide. Besides simple prevention measures and available treatment efforts, ...
  • The effect of mixed vaccination rollout strategy: A modelling study 

    Stollenwerk, N.Autoridad BCAM; Estadilla, C. D. S.; Mar, J.; Bidaurrazaga Van-Dierdonck, J.; Ibarrondo, O.; Blasco-Aguado, R.; Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM (2023-03-10)
    Vaccines have measurable efficacy obtained first from vaccine trials. However, vaccine efficacy (VE) is not a static measure and long-term population studies are needed to evaluate its performance and impact. COVID-19 ...
  • Understanding COVID-19 Epidemics: A Multi-Scale Modeling Approach 

    Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM; Anam, V.Autoridad BCAM; Cusimano, N.Autoridad BCAM; Knopoff, D.A.Autoridad BCAM; Stollenwerk, N.Autoridad BCAM (2022-02-18)
    COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020 and, since then, research on mathematical modeling became imperative and very influential to understand the epidemiological dynamics of disease ...
  • Mathematical models for dengue fever epidemiology: a 10-year systematic review 

    Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM; Anam, V.Autoridad BCAM; Blyuss, K.; Estadilla, C. D. S.; Guerrero, B.; Knopoff, D.A.Autoridad BCAM; Kooi, B. W.; Srivastav, A. K.; Steindorf, V.Autoridad BCAM; Stollenwerk, N.Autoridad BCAM (2022-02-15)
    Mathematical models have a long history in epidemiological research, and as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, research on mathematical modeling became imperative and very influential to understand the epidemiological ...
  • Modeling dengue immune responses mediated by antibodies: A qualitative study 

    Sebayang, A.A.; Fahlena, H.; Anam, V.Autoridad BCAM; Knopoff, D.A.Autoridad BCAM; Stollenwerk, N.Autoridad BCAM; Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM; Soewono, E. (2021-09-01)
    Dengue fever is a viral mosquito-borne infection and a major international public health concern. With 2.5 billion people at risk of acquiring the infection around the world, disease severity is influenced by the immunological ...
  • Critical fluctuations in epidemic models explain COVID‑19 post‑lockdown dynamics 

    Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM; BidaurrazagaVan‑Dierdonc, J.; Mar, J.; Cusimano, N.Autoridad BCAM; Knopoff, D.A.Autoridad BCAM; Anam, V.Autoridad BCAM; Stollenwerk, N.Autoridad BCAM (2021-07-06)
    As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, research on mathematical modeling became imperative and very influential to understand the epidemiological dynamics of disease spreading. The momentary reproduction ratio r(t) of an ...
  • Modeling COVID-19: Challenges and results 

    Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM (2020-10)
    Weird times we are living in. While lots of technological, medical and scientific advances are generated in a short period of time, we are now fighting a pandemic, trying to stop the spread of a new virus that has not only ...
  • Ethics of a partially effective dengue vaccine: Lessons from the Philippines 

    Halstead, B.S.; Katzelnick, L.C.; Russell, P.K.; Markoff, L.; Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM; Dans, L.R.; Dans A , L. (2020-07)
    Dengvaxia, a chimeric yellow fever tetravalent dengue vaccine developed by SanofiPasteur is widely licensed in dengue-endemic countries. In a large cohort study Dengvaxia was found to partially protect children who had ...
  • Reproduction ratio and growth rates: Measures for an unfolding pandemic 

    Aguiar, M.Autoridad BCAM; Bidaurrazaga Van-Dierdonck, J.; Stollenwerk, N.Autoridad BCAM (2020-05)
    The initial exponential growth rate of an epidemic is an important measure that follows directly from data at hand, commonly used to infer the basic reproduction number. As the growth rates λ(t) of tested positive COVID-19 ...

More information

Date Title Place Author Type
2021-02-02 12th Dynamical Systems Applied to Biology and Natural Sciences (Virtual) BCAM Bilbao   News and Events
2020-02-04 11th l Conference on dynamical Systems Applied to Biology and Natural Sciences Dipartimento di Economia e Management of University of Trento, Italy   News and Events