Derek Smith
Research area - Population and Community Ecology (Pathogen Evolution)
We use antigenic cartography, along with genetic and population biology techniques, to study basic questions in pathogen evolution, and coevolution with the acquired immunity in host populations.
Antigenic cartography is a new mathematical and computational method which for the first time allows one to quantify and visualize fine-grain phenotypic differences among strains of viruses or bacteria (Smith et al., Science 305, 371-376, 2004).
Antigenic cartography has been developed using data on human influenza virus subtype A(H3N2), and is routinely used to analyze the global data from the World Health Organization influenza surveillance network as part of the influenza vaccine strain selection process.