Dr Laith Yakob

Laith is an infectious disease ecologist with particular interest in vector-borne diseases. He obtained his BSc in Parasitology from University of Glasgow, his MSc in Modern Epidemiology from Imperial College London and his doctorate in Mathematical Modelling from University of Oxford. During his postdoctoral career in the US (University of California) and Australia (University of Queensland) he used modelling to understand the dynamics and strategise the control of infectious diseases across numerous, disparate systems.

These include African highland malaria; Caribbean coral reef pathogens; healthcare-acquired Clostridium difficile; soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomes in the Philippines; dengue and chikungunya across Europe and SE Asia; Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosus zoonoses in China; and sexually transmitted infections in Australia.

Laith is one of the founding eight core members of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team, who support countries responding to and controlling disease outbreaks before they can develop into a global threat. He is also a founding member of the Antimicrobial Resistance Centre at LSHTM, where he acts as the disciplinary head for Epidemiology and Modelling.

ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS:

2017-2019
New vectors, new diseases: the risk of chikungunya transmission in Australia
NHMRC (PI Francesca Frentiu; Co-Is: Hu, Devine, Yakob, McGraw). 

2017-2021 
ZIKAPLAN: Zika Preparedness Latin American Network
ERC-funded Consortium (PI Annelise Wilder-Smith; large network of Co-Is including Yakob).

2016-2020 
Mosquito biting behaviour and arboviral transmission: interactions between intrinsic host preferences and local environmental conditions
MRC (PI Yakob; Co-I Walker).

2016-17 
ZIKA: surveillance, risk factors and vector management in Brazil
MRC/Newton/Wellcome Trust (PI Yakob; Co-Is: Brasil, Cameron, Edmunds, Funk, Lines, Logan, Rodrigues, Rowland, Walker).