======================================================================= CAIMS*SCMAI E-News Volume 12, Number 1, January 9, 2012. Editor: Sharene Bungay (sharene@mun.ca) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENT ------- Other News 1. PIMS International Graduate Training Centre Fellowship 2. Post-Doctoral Fellow - York University 3. CAIMS*SCMAI E-news Information = = = = Item 1 = = = = The PIMS International Graduate Training Centre in Mathematical Biology invites applicants for the IGTC fellowship for 2012-2013 academic year. Fellowships are worth up to $10K a year and are for students working in mathematical biology at Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) universities (Alberta, British Columbia, Calgary, Regina, Saskatchewan, Simon Fraser and Victoria). If you have excellent students, either potential students applying now or current students, please encourage them to apply. There are also opportunities for students to enroll in the programme. All students can benefit from IGTC graduate training elements including annual research summits, summer courses, new term-time courses, seminars, graduate student exchanges, and international visitors. Full details of the IGTC Programme and application process can be found here: http://www.pims.math.ca/scientific/igtc/mathematical-biology. If you have further questions, please contact the IGTC Programme Administrator, Oriana Bella at orianab@pims.math.ca or Programme Director Dan Coombs at coombs@math.ubc.ca. Application deadline is February 29, 2012. = = = = Item 2 = = = = Post-Doctoral Fellow Modelling Seasonal Influenza in-host (immunology) and between hosts (epidemiology) Centre for Disease Modelling and Department of Mathematics & Statistics, York University $35,000-$55,000 CAD per annum Fixed term contract for up to 2 years Seasonal influenza, also called inter-pandemic influenza, is a contagious respiratory illness that causes annual epidemics worldwide, usually in the winter season. It is easily caught, easily spread and evolves over time so that host susceptibility remains throughout life. Seasonal influenza, thus, poses a major challenge to hospitals (hospitalization of the sick) and public health practices (administration of vaccine and antiviral drugs). The successful candidate will develop models that can be used to capture influenza dynamics and mutation within and between seasons. An in-host model of influenza will also be developed to understand the effects of the immune system and prior partial immunity on influenza evolution. The overriding goal is to use these (immunology and/or epidemiology) models to understand the evolution of influenza from past flu seasons, so that a better predictor of dominant strains can be developed. This has implications in influenza vaccine production. An ideal candidate would have knowledge of optimal control and disease modelling (particularly influenza), as well as experience in computer simulation development. Knowledge of statistics and biology/immunology/epidemiology would also be beneficial. The position is based in the Centre for Disease Modelling and the Mathematics & Statistics department at York University, and will be under supervision of Dr Jane Heffernan and Dr Hanna Jankowski. Please send CV and two reference letters to: Jane Heffernan Mathematics & Statistics York University 4700 Keele St Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada email: jmheffer@yorku.ca We will begin reviewing applications immediately. Start date for the position is February 1, 2012. = = = = Item 3 = = = = CAIMS*SCMAI E-News Information CAIMS*SCMAI E-News is distributed electronically several times a year by the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society/Societe Canadienne de Mathematiques Appliquees et Industrielles (http://www.caims.ca). Past issues are available on the web at http://www.caims.ca/Society/pub.html Submissions are welcome and should be sent in plain text format to: Sharene Bungay, CAIMS-SCMAI Secretary, Email: sharene@mun.ca The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the Board or Membership of CAIMS*SCMAI. The editorial policy of this publication is to encourage the discussion of issues and facilitate the dissemination of information relevant to Canadian applied and industrial mathematics. If you wish to have your name removed from the e-mailing list for the CAIMS*SCMAI E-News, please send an email message to Sharene Bungay as above.