Marcel is a biologist working at the interface of population biology, computational sciences / engineering, and the social sciences.

He's driven by exploring new questions about disease dynamics and by understanding how an information society like ours deals with health and disease.

Marcel started a web company in the late '90s and later worked a few years in industry as a software developer. While the experience was invaluable, it made him realize that his first love is science.

He also loves music and the visual arts. He used to play in a band (keys) - the band was not spectacular, but they weren't bad either (at one point, they opened a show for Lenny Kravitz, something he'll never forget). He's currently discovering classical music.

Marcel loves good design, good typography. He's fascinated by conceptual art, and occasionally creates some himself: onethousandpaintings.com.

He's also passionate about good food. Frankly, he's a bit obsessed about making the perfect pizza. Just a little bit.

Close

(For a list of Vicki's publications, please go to the CIDD website)

Vicki originally trained in the field of evolutionary vaccinology (how pathogens evolve in response to vaccination). During this time she also became interested in how social factors such as human behavior affect disease transmission and intervention strategies.

She has a leading role in one of the group's projects: How does a contact network in a high school affect the spread of influenza?

When Vicki's not thinking about disease, she can be found racing her mountain bike through the hills and glens of Pennsylvania and beyond. To everyone else's disbelief, she particularly enjoys racing 100 mile mountain bike races. She can often be found nursing the most recent scrape.

She fantasies about one day being a really good cook and being able to manage a vegetable garden.

Close

Shashank writes the software that drives our research. He is enthusiastic about using software to solve interesting problems at the intersection of computer science and biology.

Shashank spent several years in industry developing large scale and high availability websites before Marcel convinced him to make the switch to research. He is passionate about clean code and elegant softare design.

Shashank is a (reluctant) traveler. He loves to explore new places, but find the necessary planning tedious. However, he dreams about buying carpets in Turkey, bicycling through Angkor Wat and hot air ballooning over the Serengeti. When he is not thinking about traveling, he can be found racing his turbocharged MINI through the windy roads of Central Pennsylvania.

Close

(For a list of Timo's publications, please go to the CIDD website)

Timo is environmental scientist by training and he is glowing about doing research at the interface of human behavior and biology. He particularly wants to understand how processes on different levels - from cells to societies - interact and result in the dynamics of infectious diseases that we can observe. Whenever there is time left, he likes to read and to reflect about the limits of science and cognition, particularly with respect to modeling.

Before moving to the USA, Timo had a “second life” as a politician in Germany. He was a regional party leader for eight and member of a county parliament for five years. If you raise the right topic, you can still experience him as a passionate sparring partner.

Timo loves good food and he believes that good food can only be produced under fair conditions for all farmers, nature and customers. A simple, “true” meal and a good bottle of wine can make his day... and he definitely cannot resist his wife’s cakes ;-) If he’s not working, reading or eating cakes, he loves to travel, to hike and to experience nature’s rich beauty.

Close

We're always looking for interesting people to join the group, depending on available funding. Unless specified otherwise in a job ad, we are mostly interested in you if the following describes you well:

You are interested in working at the interface of biology, computational sciences / engineering, and the social sciences.

You know how to program, ideally in a language like C++, Java or Python (our work consists mainly of programming).

You have quantitative skills and an analytical mind.

You've got either a background in modeling or expertise in developing software.

You can get things done.

If that describes you, and if you are interested in joining the group, please send an email to Marcel Salathé. It's always good to include a CV and the name of two references, but what we really would like to see is the things that you've actually done (papers, software, projects etc.).

We're looking forward to hear from you!

Close