Support public health decision-making

Pandemic surveillance

I am honored to have worked with the JHU COVID-19 Dashboard team to advance pandemic surveillance and data democratization, creating essential data resources to support global decision-making.

An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time
Ensheng Dong, Hongru Du, and Lauren M Gardner
The Lancet Infectious Disease, 2020
Paper

Infectious disease forecasting

I develop data-driven methods for real-time infectious disease forecasting, including COVID-19, influenza, and RSV.

Incorporating variant frequencies data into short-term forecasting for COVID-19 cases and deaths in the USA: a deep learning approach
Hongru Du, Ensheng Dong, Hamada S Badr, Mary E Petrone, Nathan D Grubaugh, Lauren M Gardner
Ebiomedicine, 2023
Paper

I am currently contributing to the CDC’s weekly infectious disease forecasting submissions.

Retrospective risk factor analysis

I also focus on retrospective risk factor analysis to identify key drivers of disease outcomes and inform targeted public health interventions.

Association between vaccination rates and COVID-19 health outcomes in the United States: a population-level statistical analysis
Hongru Du, Samee Saiyed, Lauren M Gardner
BMC Public Health, 2024
Paper

Association between mobility patterns and COVID-19 transmission in the USA: a mathematical modelling study
Hamada S Badr, Hongru Du, Maximilian Marshall, Ensheng Dong, Marietta M Squire, and Lauren M Gardner
The Lancet Infectious Disease, 2020
Paper