Honorary Research Fellow
PhD
Dan Weiss is an Honorary Research Fellow at Telethon Kids Institute and an Associate Professor within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin University. At Telethon Kids Institute, Dan serves as the Director of Global Malaria Epidemiology for the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP), which is part of the Geospatial Health and Development group. In this role, Dan leads the production of malaria burden estimates that supply the World Malaria Report (World Health Organization) and the Global Burden of Disease (University of Washington). Dan’s wider research interests include modelling travel time to essential services and developing new covariates for disease modelling using remotely sensed imagery, geographic information systems, and geospatial modelling approaches. Dan is originally from the United States where he obtained a PhD in Geography from the University of North Carolina in 2009. He joined MAP at the University of Oxford in 2013 and moved to Western Australia in 2020.
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Publications
February 2022
Spatial codistribution of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in Ethiopia
HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria are the three most important infectious diseases in Ethiopia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the spatial codistribution of these diseases is critical for designing geographically targeted and integrated disease control programmes. This study investigated the spatial overlap and drivers of HIV, TB and malaria prevalence in Ethiopia.
Published research Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention Geospatial Health and Development MalariaApril 2022A novel statistical framework for exploring the population dynamics and seasonality of mosquito populations
Understanding the temporal dynamics of mosquito populations underlying vector-borne disease transmission is key to optimizing control strategies. Many questions remain surrounding the drivers of these dynamics and how they vary between species-questions rarely answerable from individual entomological studies (that typically focus on a single location or species).
Published research Infectious Diseases Geospatial Health and Development MalariaJanuary 2021Indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria intervention coverage, morbidity, and mortality in Africa: a geospatial modelling analysis
Substantial progress has been made in reducing the burden of malaria in Africa since 2000, but those gains could be jeopardised if the COVID-19 pandemic affects the availability of key malaria control interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate plausible effects on malaria incidence and mortality under different levels of disruption to malaria control.
Published research Infectious Diseases Geospatial Health and DevelopmentApril 2021Using Hawkes Processes to model imported and local malaria cases in near-elimination settings
Developing new methods for modelling infectious diseases outbreaks is important for monitoring transmission and developing policy. In this paper we propose using semi-mechanistic Hawkes Processes for modelling malaria transmission in near-elimination settings. Hawkes Processes are well founded mathematical methods that enable us to combine the benefits of both statistical and mechanistic models to recreate and forecast disease transmission beyond just malaria outbreak scenarios.
Published research Infectious Diseases Geospatial Health and DevelopmentJune 2021Mapping the endemicity and seasonality of clinical malaria for intervention targeting in Haiti using routine case data
Towards the goal of malaria elimination on Hispaniola, the National Malaria Control Program of Haiti and its international partner organisations are conducting a campaign of interventions targeted to high-risk communities prioritised through evidence-based planning. Here we present a key piece of this planning: an up-to-date, fine-scale endemicity map and seasonality profile for Haiti informed by monthly case counts.
Published research Infectious Diseases Geospatial Health and DevelopmentJune 2021Maps and metrics of insecticide-treated net access, use, and nets-per-capita in Africa from 2000-2020
Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are one of the most widespread and impactful malaria interventions in Africa, yet a spatially-resolved time series of ITN coverage has never been published. Using data from multiple sources, we generate high-resolution maps of ITN access, use, and nets-per-capita annually from 2000 to 2020 across the 40 highest-burden African countries.
Published research Infectious Diseases Geospatial Health and DevelopmentJune 2021Mapping malaria by sharing spatial information between incidence and prevalence data sets
As malaria incidence decreases and more countries move towards elimination, maps of malaria risk in low-prevalence areas are increasingly needed. For low-burden areas, disaggregation regression models have been developed to estimate risk at high spatial resolution from routine surveillance reports aggregated by administrative unit polygons.
Published research Geospatial Health and Development MalariaOctober 2021Achieving universal electrification of rural healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa with decentralized renewable energy technologies
A potential response to the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with long-term benefits is to provide electricity for medical equipment in rural health centers and communities. This study identifies a large gap in the electrification of healthcare facilities in SSA, and it shows that decentralized photovoltaic systems can offer a clean, reliable, quick, and cost-effective solution.
Published research Geospatial Health and Development COVID-19December 2020Global maps of travel time to healthcare facilities
Access to healthcare is a requirement for human well-being that is constrained, in part, by the allocation of healthcare resources relative to the geographically dispersed human population. Quantifying access to care globally is challenging due to the absence of a comprehensive database of healthcare facilities. We harness major data collection efforts underway by OpenStreetMap, Google Maps and academic researchers to compile the most complete collection of facility locations to date.
Published research Geospatial Health and Development -
Education and Qualifications