Research group

Current and former PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.

I supervise students and postdoctoral researchers working on spatial and spatio-temporal statistics and their applications to global public health and the environmental sciences. Group members work across methodological development (geostatistics, causal inference, point processes, machine learning) and applied disease mapping.

If you are interested in joining the group, see PhD opportunities.

Current PhD students

As main supervisor

  • Isqeel Ogunsola (2024–) — Causal inference for spatial data. Doctoral research in an emerging methodological area; work to date has produced a manuscript submitted to Communications in Statistics – Simulation and Computation.

As co-supervisor

  • Andrew Halls (2022–) — Statistical and mathematical modelling of Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Based in environmental science. First author of “Prevalence and molecular characterisation of Giardia spp. and Cryptosporidium spp. at the wildlife-livestock interface in Laikipia, Kenya”, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 30 (2026),
    1. DOI
  • Luis Guaman (2024–) — Spatio-temporal point process methods for crime analysis.
  • Bobby Poerwanto (2025–) — Spatio-temporal modelling of dengue fever.
  • Annine Duclaire Kenne (2025–) — Machine learning for the environmental sciences.
  • Abdoulaye Diop (2026–) — Climate and health.

Completed PhDs

  • Mwandida Afuleni (2022–2026, main supervisor) — Modelling of COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics in a Resource-Limited Setting: Phylogenetic, Spatiotemporal, and Compartmental Frameworks in Malawi. Viva passed July 2026. Her doctoral work has produced a paper in PLOS Global Public Health and a second manuscript resubmitted to BMC Public Health following minor revisions. She has returned to her role as a Lecturer at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS).

Postdoctoral researchers

Former

  • Dr Corneliu Arsene (March 2024 – February 2025) — modelling the economic impact of climate change on diseases of despair. Coordinated the collaboration between the University of Manchester, the University of Leicester and UCL, and liaised with the project advisory group. Developed a web application to visualise and explore the interactions between climate change, the economy, and health — explore the Climate and Health app.