Usher Institute inaugural lecture showcase September 2026

Inaugural lecture showcase from the Usher Institute, recorded September 2026. 

With:

• Professor Katie Atkins, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Katherine Atkins is Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh's Usher Institute. An evolutionary epidemiologist, she studies how infections spread through populations, how they adapt to the interventions we deploy against them, and how they can best be controlled. Her research combines mathematical modelling with a range of data to address some of the most pressing challenges in public health, including HIV, antimicrobial resistance, and the design of vaccination programmes, with the aim of informing policy and practice.

This talk will explore how mathematical models, integrated with epidemiological and genomic data, can uncover the transmission dynamics and evolutionary pressures that shape infectious disease. As transmission and evolution largely unfold unobserved, I will discuss how quantifying them can inform the design and evaluation of interventions, from individual exposure to population-level control.