Laurent Hébert-Dufresne

Laurent’s research explores and strengthens the foundations of mathematical and computational models of contagion. His work often focuses on the interplay between structure and dynamics in complex systems, such as the co-evolution of institutions with emerging societal challenges like pandemics and climate change. Spanning topics from network science to cultural evolution, Laurent’s research develops new modeling techniques and frameworks for understanding how ideas, beliefs, behaviors, and diseases spread.

Dr. Laurent Hébert-Dufresne is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Vermont, where he is also affiliated with the Vermont Complex Systems Institute and serves as a Core Director of the Translational Global Infectious Disease Research Center. He is also an affiliate of the Département de Physique at his alma mater, Université Laval in Québec, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Laurent joined the University of Vermont in 2018. Prior to that, he completed his B.Sc. (2009), M.Sc. (2011), and Ph.D. (2014) in Physics at Université Laval in his hometown of Québec City. He then held a James S. McDonnell Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute (2014–2016), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Disease Modeling (2017).