Caroline Buckee

Growing up, Buckee's family moved around the globe for her father's work in the oil industry, living in Alaska, Norway, Canada, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom. In 2000, Buckee received her BSc degree in zoology from the University of Edinburgh. As an undergraduate, she conducted field research in Tanzania in East Africa, where she first encountered a malaria clinic that sparked her interest in infectious diseases.

Buckee then attended the University of York where she received her Master of Research (MRes) degree in Bioinformatics in 2002. She next began her doctorate degree at the University of Oxford in 2002, studying Mathematical Epidemiology working under the mentorship of Sunetra Gupta.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/the-uses-of-outrage/|title=The uses of outrage|last=Sweeney|first=Chris|date=2020-02-06|website=Harvard Public Health Magazine|language=en-us|access-date=2020-04-21}} There, she studied how ecological factors influenced the population dynamics and strain diversity of the bacterium that causes meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis. She completed her dissertation, entitled The evolution and maintenance of pathogen diversity, in 2005{{Cite thesis|title=The evolution and maintenance of pathogen diversity|url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.433383|publisher=University of Oxford|date=2005|degree=Ph.D.|first=Caroline O'Flaherty|last=Buckee}} and received her PhD in 2006.

Following graduate school, Buckee became a postdoctoral researcher, supported by the Wellcome Trust, at the Kenya Medical Research Institute. There, she began working with mobile phone location data to understand the effect human migration patterns and on malaria disease transmission.{{Cite web|url=https://wellcome.ac.uk/grant-funding/people-and-projects/grants-awarded/the-population-structure-expression-patterns|title=The population structure and expression patterns of Plasmodium falciparum var gene repertoires {{!}} Wellcome|website=wellcome.ac.uk|access-date=2020-04-22}} She then became an Omidyar Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute, a multi-disciplinary nonprofit research institute that focuses on the study of complex adaptive systems, to continue this work.

In 2010, Buckee joined the faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research program centers on understanding how human pathogens spread and how their spread might be controlled using a combination of genomics to understand their biology and mathematical modeling techniques to understand and forecast their spread.{{Cite web|url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/networks-untangle-malarias-deadly-shuffle-20151015/|title=Networks Untangle Malaria's Deadly Shuffle|last=Greenwood|first=Veronique|website=Quanta Magazine|date=15 October 2015|language=en|access-date=2020-04-22}} She is particularly interested in understanding and mitigating the burden of infectious diseases among low-income populations.{{cite journal|last1=Buckee|first1=Caroline|title=Using Cell Phones to Fight Infectious Disease|journal=Trends in Parasitology|date=January 2017|volume=33|issue=1|pages=1–2|doi=10.1016/J.PT.2016.10.011|pmid=27890329}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q88847591|y}} Buckee has become known as a pioneer in digital epidemiology, taking advantage of mobile phone and satellite data to understand patterns of human travel and their impact on the spread of diseases.

In 2012, Buckee's research group published a study that used mobile phone data to track the spread of malaria in Kenya.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/10/tech/cnn10-thinkers/|title=The CNN 10: Thinkers|last=Griggs|first=Brandon|date=October 2013|website=CNN|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}} Using data collected from text messages and cell phone calls between June 2008 and 2009, they found patterns of malaria transmission that mapped onto heavily trafficked roads. Thus, her group was able to map transmission risk, demonstrating that data derived from mobile phones were a powerful and low-cost epidemiological tool to better inform and prepare public health officials. Her group later used cell phone data from 40 million users, which was made available by the phone company Telenor, in a proof of concept study forecasting Dengue fever outbreaks in Pakistan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/09/08/437566559/cellphone-records-could-help-predict-next-dengue-outbreak|title=Cellphone Records Could Help Predict Dengue Outbreak|last=Greenfieldboyce|first=Nell|author-link=Nell Greenfieldboyce|date=2015-09-08|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2020-04-22}}

In the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, Buckee worked with researchers at Carlos Albizu University to estimate the number of fatalities due to the storm.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbur.org/npr/615120123/study-puts-puerto-rico-death-toll-at-5-000-from-hurricane-maria-in-2017|title=Study Puts Puerto Rico Death Toll From Hurricane Maria Near 5,000|last=Harris|first=Richard|date=2018-05-29|website=www.wbur.org|language=en|access-date=2020-04-22}} She wanted to understand how far off the official death toll was and devised a strategy to arrive at a more accurate estimate. She and her colleagues met in Puerto Rico and surveyed over 3 thousand randomly chosen households to assess the damage and deaths caused by the storm, ultimately estimating the actual death toll was closer to 5,000 between 20 September and 31 December 2017. Their calculated death toll was approximately 73 times the official fatality report.{{Cite news|last=Emery|first=Gene|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-hurricane-puertorico-idUSKCN1IU1ZV|title=Puerto Rican death toll from Hurricane Maria 73 times official tally: study|date=2018-05-29|work=Reuters|access-date=2020-04-22|language=en}}

Buckee co-leads the COVID-19 Mobility Network, a coalition of infectious disease epidemiologists from over a dozen universities working to understand the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/17/harvard-coronavirus-forecasting-facebook/|title=Harvard COVID-19 Researchers to Use Facebook Data for Disease Forecasting {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson|last1=Levien|first1=Simon J.|last2=Li|first2=Austin W.|date=2020-04-17|website=www.thecrimson.com|access-date=2020-04-22}} The group is now utilising mobility data provided by Facebook's Data for Good program, which released a series of disease prevention maps for research use, both to understand the impact of social distancing measures and to utilise for contact tracing and disease forecasting.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/facebook/2020/4/6/21209733/facebook-disease-prevention-maps-covid-19-symptom-reports-privacy|title=Facebook begins sharing more location data with COVID-19 researchers and asks users to self-report symptoms|last=Newton|first=Casey|date=2020-04-06|website=The Verge|language=en|access-date=2020-04-22}} In April 2020, she co-authored an op-ed in The Washington Post noting the various approaches to social distancing taken by different states has created a natural set of experimental conditions with which to test the efficacy of different policies.{{Cite news|last1=Barnett|first1=Michael L.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/01/what-we-need-know-before-we-can-end-social-distancing/|title=What we need to know before we can end social distancing|date=2020-04-01|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2020-04-21|last2=Buckee|first2=Caroline O.|last3=Grad|first3=Yonatan H.}} She and her colleagues have since advocated for the use of aggregated and anonymised mobility data—taking into account appropriate user privacy and security measures—to understand the effectiveness of these different policies, as well as their accompanying public health messaging, in effectively executing large-scale social distancing measures.{{cite journal|first1=Caroline O.|last1=Buckee|first2=Satchit|last2=Balsari|first3=Jennifer|last3=Chan|first4=Mercè|last4=Crosas|first5=Francesca|last5=Dominici|first6=Urs|last6=Gasser|first7=Yonatan H.|last7=Grad|first8=Bryan|last8=Grenfell|first9=M. Elizabeth|last9=Halloran|first10=Moritz U. G.|last10=Kraemer|first11=Marc|last11=Lipsitch|first12=C. Jessica E.|last12=Metcalf|first13=Lauren|last13=Ancel Meyers|first14=T. Alex|last14=Perkins|first15=Mauricio|last15=Santillana|first16=Samuel V.|last16=Scarpino|first17=Cecile|last17=Viboud|first18=Amy|last18=Wesolowski|first19=Andrew|last19=Schroeder|date=10 April 2020|title=Aggregated mobility data could help fight COVID-19|journal=Science|volume=368|issue=6487|pages=145–146|doi=10.1126/science.abb8021|pmid=32205458|bibcode=2020Sci...368..145B|doi-access=free}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q89109055|y}}{{cite news|last1=Leung|first1=Gabriel|title=Opinion: Lockdown Can't Last Forever. Here's How to Lift It.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/opinion/coronavirus-end-social-distancing.html|date=6 April 2020|work=The New York Times|language=en-US}}{{cite magazine|last1=Knight|first1=Will|title=The Value and Ethics of Using Phone Data to Monitor Covid-19|url=https://www.wired.com/story/value-ethics-using-phone-data-monitor-covid-19/|date=18 March 2020|magazine=Wired|language=en}}

{{Scholia|author}}

• {{cite journal|last1=Salathé|first1=Marcel|author-link=Marcel Salathé|last2=Bengtsson|first2=Linus|last3=Bodnar|first3=Todd J.|last4=Brewer|first4=Devon D.|last5=Brownstein|first5=John S.|last6=Buckee|first6=Caroline|last7=Campbell|first7=Ellsworth M.|last8=Cattuto|first8=Ciro|last9=Khandelwal|first9=Shashank|last10=Mabry|first10=Patricia L.|last11=Vespignani|first11=Alessandro|last12=Bourne|first12=Philip E.|title=Digital Epidemiology|journal=PLOS Computational Biology|date=26 July 2012|volume=8|issue=7|pages=e1002616|doi=10.1371/JOURNAL.PCBI.1002616|pmid=22844241|pmc=3406005|bibcode=2012PLSCB...8E2616S|doi-access=free}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q25891612|y}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Wesolowski|first1=Amy|last2=Eagle|first2=Nathan|last3=Tatem|first3=Andrew J.|last4=Smith|first4=David L.|last5=Noor|first5=Abdisalan M.|last6=Snow|first6=Robert W.|last7=Buckee|first7=Caroline O.|date=12 October 2012|title=Quantifying the Impact of Human Mobility on Malaria|journal=Science|volume=338|issue=6104|pages=267–270|doi=10.1126/science.1223467|pmc=3675794|pmid=23066082|bibcode=2012Sci...338..267W}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q36910711|y}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Reiner|first1=Robert C.|last2=Perkins|first2=T. Alex|last3=Barker|first3=Christopher M.|last4=Niu|first4=Tianchan|last5=Chaves|first5=Luis Fernando|last6=Ellis|first6=Alicia M.|last7=George|first7=Dylan B.|last8=Le Menach|first8=Arnaud|last9=Pulliam|first9=Juliet R. C.|last10=Bisanzio|first10=Donal|last11=Buckee|first11=Caroline|last12=Chiyaka|first12=Christinah|last13=Cummings|first13=Derek A. T.|last14=Garcia|first14=Andres J.|last15=Gatton|first15=Michelle L.|last16=Gething|first16=Peter W.|last17=Hartley|first17=David M.|last18=Johnston|first18=Geoffrey|last19=Klein|first19=Eili Y.|last20=Michael|first20=Edwin|last21=Lindsay|first21=Steven W.|last22=Lloyd|first22=Alun L.|last23=Pigott|first23=David M.|last24=Reisen|first24=William K.|last25=Ruktanonchai|first25=Nick|last26=Singh|first26=Brajendra K.|last27=Tatem|first27=Andrew J.|last28=Kitron|first28=Uriel|last29=Hay|first29=Simon I.|last30=Scott|first30=Thomas W.|last31=Smith|first31=David L.|title=A systematic review of mathematical models of mosquito-borne pathogen transmission: 1970–2010|journal=Journal of the Royal Society Interface|date=6 April 2013|volume=10|issue=81|pages=20120921|doi=10.1098/RSIF.2012.0921|pmid=23407571|pmc=3627099|doi-access=free}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q36767943|y}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Larremore|first1=Daniel B.|last2=Sundararaman|first2=Sesh A.|first3=Weimin|last3=Liu|first4=William R.|last4=Proto|first5=Aaron|last5=Clauset|first6=Dorothy E.|last6=Loy|first7=Sheri|last7=Speede|first8=Lindsey J.|last8=Plenderleith|first9=Paul M.|last9=Sharp|first10=Beatrice H.|last10=Hahn|first11=Julian C.|last11=Rayner|first12=Caroline O.|last12=Buckee|date=12 October 2015|title=Ape parasite origins of human malaria virulence genes|journal=Nature Communications|volume=6|page=8368|doi=10.1038/NCOMMS9368|pmc=4633637|pmid=26456841|bibcode=2015NatCo...6.8368L|doi-access=free}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q36249793|y}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Wesolowski|first1=Amy|last2=Qureshi|first2=Taimur|last3=Boni|first3=Maciej F.|last4=Sundsøy|first4=Pål Roe|last5=Johansson|first5=Michael A.|last6=Rasheed|first6=Syed Basit|last7=Engø-Monsen|first7=Kenth|last8=Buckee|first8=Caroline O.|title=Impact of human mobility on the emergence of dengue epidemics in Pakistan|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=22 September 2015|volume=112|issue=38|pages=11887–11892|doi=10.1073/PNAS.1504964112|pmid=26351662|pmc=4586847|bibcode=2015PNAS..11211887W|doi-access=free}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q30151102|y}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Buckee|first1=Caroline|title=Using Cell Phones to Fight Infectious Disease|journal=Trends in Parasitology|date=January 2017|volume=33|issue=1|pages=1–2|doi=10.1016/J.PT.2016.10.011|pmid=27890329}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q88847591|y}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Peak|first1=Corey M.|first2=Lauren M.|last2=Childs|first3=Yonatan H.|last3=Grad|first4=Caroline O.|last4=Buckee|date=11 April 2017|title=Comparing nonpharmaceutical interventions for containing emerging epidemics|journal=PNAS|volume=114|issue=15|pages=4023–4028|doi=10.1073/PNAS.1616438114|pmc=5393248|pmid=28351976|bibcode=2017PNAS..114.4023P |doi-access=free}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q33569390|y}}
• {{cite journal|first1=Nishant|last1=Kishore|first2=Domingo|last2=Marqués|first3=Ayesha|last3=Mahmud|first4=Mathew V.|last4=Kiang|first5=Irmary|last5=Rodriguez|first6=Arlan|last6=Fuller|first7=Peggy|last7=Ebner|first8=Cecilia|last8=Sorensen|first9=Fabio|last9=Racy|first10=Jay|last10=Lemery|first11=Leslie|last11=Maas|first12=Jennifer|last12=Leaning|first13=Rafael A.|last13=Irizarry|first14=Satchit|last14=Balsari|first15=Caroline O.|last15=Buckee|date=12 July 2017|title=Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|volume=379|issue=2|pages=162–170|doi=10.1056/NEJMsa1803972|pmid=29809109|doi-access=free|url=https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/1/37309252/1/nejmsa1803972.pdf}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q55868710|y}}
• {{cite journal|first1=Caroline O.|last1=Buckee|first2=Satchit|last2=Balsari|first3=Jennifer|last3=Chan|first4=Mercè|last4=Crosas|first5=Francesca|last5=Dominici|first6=Urs|last6=Gasser|first7=Yonatan H.|last7=Grad|first8=Bryan|last8=Grenfell|first9=M. Elizabeth|last9=Halloran|first10=Moritz U. G.|last10=Kraemer|first11=Marc|last11=Lipsitch|first12=C. Jessica E.|last12=Metcalf|first13=Lauren|last13=Ancel Meyers|first14=T. Alex|last14=Perkins|first15=Mauricio|last15=Santillana|first16=Samuel V.|last16=Scarpino|first17=Cecile|last17=Viboud|first18=Amy|last18=Wesolowski|first19=Andrew|last19=Schroeder|date=10 April 2020|title=Aggregated mobility data could help fight COVID-19|journal=Science|volume=368|issue=6487|pages=145–146|doi=10.1126/science.abb8021|pmid=32205458|bibcode=2020Sci...368..145B|doi-access=free}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q89109055|y}}

• 2013: CNN, Top 10 Thinker
• 2013: Foreign Policy, Top 100 Global Thinker{{Cite web|url=http://2013-global-thinkers.foreignpolicy.com/buckee|title=Caroline Buckee - For using metadata to fight disease.|date=2013|website=Foreign Policy|access-date=2020-04-21}}
• 2013: MIT Technology Review, 35 Innovators Under 35{{Cite web|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/innovator/caroline-buckee/|title=Caroline Buckee|website=MIT Technology Review|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}}
• 2019: Harvard University, Alice Hamilton Award

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/caroline-buckee/ Caroline Buckee] at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• [https://ccdd.hsph.harvard.edu/people/caroline-buckee/ Caroline Buckee] at Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckee, Caroline}}

Category:Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty

Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford

Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Category:Alumni of the University of York

Category:British women epidemiologists

Category:British epidemiologists

Category:COVID-19 researchers

Category:1979 births

Category:Living people

Category:American women epidemiologists

Category:American epidemiologists

Category:Network scientists

Category:21st-century American women scientists

Category:21st-century American scientists

Category:21st-century British women scientists

Category:21st-century British scientists