MCA: Understanding the animal movement and disease transmission interface

传染性病原体在个体之间的传播通常是宿主与宿主接触的结果，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，目前还没有一个将社会和生物物理环境与宿主接触率直接联系起来的一般框架。本研究的总体目标是为一名处于职业生涯中期的研究人员提供保护时间和支持，以便在两位具有上述专业知识的早期职业伙伴的指导下更新她的定量工具，并使用高分辨率运动数据和现代运动接触分析来测试环境如何与接触率联系起来。一旦将产生疾病的宿主接触与环境特征联系起来，动物运动数据就可用于预测接触的位置以及由此导致的病原体在新环境中的传播。鉴于目前全球对新疾病和宿主宿主出现的担忧，例如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的是：(1)学习使用新开发的运动-接触模型（即MoveSTIR）；(2)扩展MoveSTIR理论，了解环境背景如何塑造接触热点动态；(3)将扩展后的MoveSTIR应用于白尾鹿（Odocoileus virginianus）的经验运动和疾病数据，以确定传播的社会和生物物理背景。该提案将开发一种方法，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。本研究利用正在进行的数据收集，从一个新的运动和疾病的研究，40 gps项圈鹿，并整合经验数据到新的工作流程。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界面感兴趣的科学家举办NIMBioS研讨会，包括MoveSTIR模型的用户友好R包；加强研究人员、公众和野生动物管理者之间的联系。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.