nic geard

Research

I am interested in how we can create computational models to investigate the transmission and control of infectious diseases such as influenza, group A Streptococcus, and COVID-19; how these models can capture the influence of demographic, behavioural and pathogen heterogeneity on the spread of diseases, and what this means for the design of effective control strategies.

More broadly, I am interested in the application of simulation models to the study of complex biological, social, and artificial systems.  Past areas of research interest have included the structure and dynamics of gene regulatory networks, the interplay between developmental and evolutionary processes, and the co-evolution of state and topology in dynamic networks.

Biography

I am currently an Associate Professor with the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne, and Director of the Melbourne Data Analytics Platform.

I joined the School of Computing and Information Systems in 2016. Prior to that, I was an ARC DECRA Fellow (2013-2016) with the Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, where I first began to develop and apply computational models of infectious disease transmission and control with Jodie McVernon and James McCaw. Before arriving in Melbourne, I worked with Seth Bullock in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, on modelling the dynamics of social networks. Between Southampton and Melbourne, I spent some time on a bike. I obtained my BSc and PhD in computer science at the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland. My PhD, on modelling the evolution of gene regulatory networks, was supervised by Janet Wiles.