The MIDAS Webinar Series features research by MIDAS members, and is open to the public.
Date: Friday, September 26, 2025
Speaker: Joseph Mihaljevic, PhD
Topic: epymorph: A comprehensive, open-source software for building, simulating, fitting, and forecasting spatial models of infectious disease
Abstract: The epymorph Python package provides a framework for completing the full lifecycle of a metapopulation modeling study, from construction to parameter fitting to forecasting. epymorph is a highly customizable yet reproducible modeling platform, facilitating the creation of spatial models for any set of US Census-delineated areas, down to the Census block group. An advanced particle filtering system estimates space- and time-varying parameters from real surveillance data, and fitted models can then be piped into a flexible forecasting module. We believe that epymorph is a state-of-the-art tool for building and testing models to support real challenges in public health.
Bio: Joe Mihaljevic is an Associate Professor at Northern Arizona University’s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS), and he is an affiliate researcher at NAU’s Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, as well as the Center for Community Health and Engaged Research. Research in Mihaljevic’s lab integrates across disciplines to understand the dominant drivers of pathogen transmission, with applications in wildlife conservation and public health. Grounded in epidemiological theory, they develop statistical computing techniques to rigorously link mechanistic models with diverse data sources, and they develop collaborative cyberinfrastructure to operationalize modeling techniques for real world applications.