For Stéphane Verguet, measles is much more than a disease. It’s a window into the complex dynamics of human illness and health care.
“At IHME, we are always looking for ways to anchor these mathematical models with actual diseases and effects of the diseases, or what we call sequelae,” Stephane said.
Stéphane is using measles to model the benefits of immunization worldwide, which will lead the way to the study of a range of interventions. He developed skills in mathematical modeling and policy analysis as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.
While there, he used his detailed understanding of the biophysical properties of drug-delivery systems and drug formulations to advance research into microbicides to combat HIV, products that are currently under clinical development.
Stéphane designed and studied nanotechnology devices that could detect antibodies in the blood to give clinicians the earliest possible glimpse of a disease. While at Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, he worked on HIV policy and advocacy and compared the cost effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions.
Cost is key, Stéphane said. He saw firsthand the limitations of low-income countries while helping manage a nonprofit organization that promoted and built point-of-use technology for sanitizing water in La Paz, Mexico.
“I have always been interested in health policy and coming up with solutions that have a life beyond theory,” Stéphane said.
His measles work is part of the Disease Control Priorities Network (DCPN). IHME is leading a team of researchers worldwide to build on the previous Disease Control Priorities Project, which was completed in 2006. Through DCPN, researchers are analyzing the cost effectiveness of hundreds of health interventions, including antiretroviral drugs for HIV, childhood immunizations, and vitamin A supplementation.
“With childhood diseases like measles, we want to look at both the direct and indirect costs and benefits of immunization,” Stéphane said. “What is the impact from preventing the disease and also from preventing a host of other problems that would have resulted from the child being weakened from having the disease?”
Stéphane hopes to follow his fellowship with a position either in academia or in an organization that will allow him to continue to find practical solutions to global health challenges.
