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Kim Pepin, PhD
Study systems include
Avian influenza
Acute viral infections (e.g., Dengue, Influenza A, Norovirus)
Leptospirosis in California sea lions
Selected publications
Pepin, KM, Lass, S, Pulliam, J.R.C. , Read, AF, Lloyd-Smith, JO (In Press) Identifying genetic markers of adaptation for surveillance of viral host jumps. Nature Reviews Microbiology
Pepin, KM, Volkov, I, Banavar, JR, Wilke, CO, Grenfell, BT (2010) Phenotypic Differences in Viral Immune Escape Explained by Linking Within-Host Dynamics to Host-Population Immunity. Journal of Theoretical Biology 265: 501.
Lloyd-Smith, JO George, D. Pepin, KM, Pitzer, VE, Pulliam, JRC, Dobson, AP, Hudson, PJ, & Grenfell, BT (2009) Epidemic dynamics at the human-animal interface. Science 326:1362.
Pepin KM & Hanley KA (2008) Density-dependent competitive suppression of sylvatic dengue virus by endemic dengue virus in cultured mosquito cells. Vector Borne & Zoonotic Diseases 8: 821
Pepin KM & Wichman HA (2007) Variable epistatic effects between mutations at host recognition sites in phi X174 bacteriophage. Evolution 61: 1710-1724
Pepin KM, Samuel MA & Wichman HA (2006) Variable pleiotropic effects from mutations at the same locus hamper prediction of fitness from a fitness component. Genetics 172: 2047-2056
Research interests
Mechanisms of viral adaptation and disease emergence - especially due to host jumps, escape from host immunity and climate change.
Methods
- Mathematical modeling in an SIR-type framework that links within-host viral evolution to the epidemiological scale.
- Probabilistic statistical models for identifying climatic drivers of disease, prediction of disease incidence, evaluation of surveillance/control policies and identification of the genetic basis of virulence.
Ongoing Reserch
- Time series forecasting and mechanistic modeling of avian influenza from live bird markets in China.
- Effects of viral strain interactions on population immunity structure and vaccination protocols.
- Importance of within-host infection parameters on prediction of emergence.
- The role of health care facilities in immune escape evolution of noroviruses.
- Identification of genetic markers of brain cancer virulence.
