Dr. Noémie Lefrancq

Research area

My work focuses on the development of mathematical models that help shed light on the underlying transmission dynamics of infectious diseases, with the ultimate goal of helping disease control. I am particularly focusing on the use of genetic data, that is increasingly available and is bringing novel insights into pathogen transmission. I work on broad spectrum of human pathogen, from viruses to bacteria.

I am currently a postdoral researcher at ETH Zürich in Switzerland, and was awarded an ETH postdoctoral Fellowship to work on scalable phylodynamics methods to explore mechanisms of pathogen spread. I am working at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel (Computational Evolution Group, Stadler group).

I completed my PhD in 2024 at the University of Cambridge, with Henrik Salje at the Department of Genetics (Pathogen Dynamics Group) and Julian Parkhill at the Department of Veterinary Medicine (Pathogen Genetics and Evolution Group). I worked with datasets of Bordetella pertussis genomes from throughout France as well as other European countries in a collaborative project with Sylvain Brisse at Institut Pasteur Paris and the national reference center for Pertussis in France. In 2023, I received the Johnstone and Florence Stoney PhD award, from the British Federation of Women Graduates.