MCA: Understanding the animal movement and disease transmission interface

传染性病原体在个体之间的传播往往是宿主对宿主接触的结果，而这些接触受到宿主运动以及社会和生物物理环境的影响。然而，没有一个通用框架将社会和生物物理环境与宿主接触率直接联系起来。这项研究的总体目标是为职业中期的研究人员提供有保障的时间和支持，以便在两个具有上述专业知识的职业早期合作伙伴的指导下更新她的量化工具，并使用高分辨率移动数据和现代移动-接触分析来测试环境与接触率之间的联系。一旦产生疾病的宿主接触者与环境特征联系在一起，动物运动数据就可以用来预测接触者的位置和随后的病原体在新环境中的传播。鉴于目前全球对新出现的疾病和宿主宿主的关注，如SARS-COV-2在鹿中的持续传播，了解、预测和管理疾病在野生动物、牲畜和人类系统中的传播至关重要。本研究的具体科学目标是：(1)学习使用新开发的运动-接触模型(即MoveSTIR)；(2)扩展MoveSTIR理论以了解环境背景如何塑造接触热点动态；以及(3)将扩展的MoveSTIR应用于白尾鹿(Odocoileus Virginianus)的经验运动和疾病数据，以识别传播的社会和生物物理背景。这项提议将开发一种方法，将动物的社会和生物物理环境的各个方面与高分辨率运动数据相结合，以预测与疾病传播相关的接触热点，在新的景观中。这项研究利用了从40只GPS项圈鹿的新运动和疾病研究中收集的持续数据，并将经验数据整合到新的工作流程中。该项目还将通过为职业生涯中期的女性研究人员提供专业发展机会和培训，扩大对研究的参与；为其他对动物运动和疾病传播之间的接口感兴趣的科学家举办NIMBioS研讨会，包括针对MoveSTIR模型的用户友好的R包；并加强研究人员、公众和野生动物管理者之间的联系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Transmission of infectious pathogens between individuals is often the result of host-to-host contacts, and those contacts are influenced by host movement and the social and biophysical environment. Yet there is not a general framework that directly connects the social and biophysical environment to host contact rates. The overall objectives of this research are to provide protected time and support for a mid-career researcher to update her quantitative tools under the mentorship of two early-career partners with said expertise, and to test how the environment links to contact rate using high-resolution movement data and modern movement-contact analyses. Once disease-producing host contacts are tied to environmental features, animal movement data can be used to predict the location of contacts and consequent pathogen transmission in novel environments. Given current global concern over the emergence of new diseases and host reservoirs, such as sustained transmission of SARS-COV-2 in deer, it is vital to understand, predict, and manage disease spread in wildlife, livestock, and human systems.The specific scientific aims of this study are to: (1) learn to use a newly developed movement-contact model (i.e., MoveSTIR); (2) extend the theory of MoveSTIR to understand how environmental context shapes contact hotspot dynamics; and (3) apply the expanded MoveSTIR to empirical movement and disease data from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to identify social and biophysical contexts of transmission. This proposal will develop an approach that integrates aspects of an animal’s social and biophysical environment with high-resolution movement data to predict contact hotspots relevant for disease transmission, in novel landscapes. This research leverages ongoing data collection from a new movement and disease study of 40 GPS-collared deer and integrates empirical data into the novel workflow. This project will also broaden participation in research by providing professional development opportunities and training for a female mid-career researcher; lead to a NIMBioS workshop for other scientists interested in the interface between animal movement and disease transmission including a user-friendly R package for the MoveSTIR model; and strengthen ties between researchers, the public, and wildlife managers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.