network science institute

Forecasting diseases can help fight epidemics. But how accurate can these predictions be?

Ten different infectious diseases and 25 years of data later, Samuel Scarpino, an assistant professor in Northeastern’s Network Science Institute, has an answer.

by Laura Castañón February 28, 2019

What can 3D printing tell us about the human brain?

Researchers at Northeastern’s Center for Complex Network Research have developed a new model to study the properties of networks that exist in three-dimensional space.

by Laura Castañón November 28, 2018

Tracking an epidemic requires computer models. But what if those models are wrong?

Researchers at Northeastern have found that one of the basic assumptions used in disease modeling simply isn’t realistic. Now they’re looking at how epidemics travel through various layers of a population to find a better way to track a disease.

by Laura Castañón November 19, 2018

How long is an Ebola survivor contagious? One case is causing scientists to rethink the answer.

A new report shows that a Liberian woman who survived a case of Ebola in 2014 may have infected her family a year later. The finding could complicate things for scientists such as Northeastern professor Alessandro Vespignani, who study how diseases spread during an outbreak.

by Laura Castañón - contributor August 13, 2018

Researchers use Twitter to track the flu in real time

An international team led by Northeastern’s Alessandro Vespignani has developed a unique computational model that uses Twitter to project the spread of the seasonal flu in real time. With it, public health agencies can plan ahead, allocating medical resources and launching preventative care campaigns.

by Thea Singer May 5, 2017

PhD student to study water access and control in Uganda through interviews—and equations

Matt Simonson got his undergraduate degree in math and international studies, but wasn’t sure they could be used together. That was until he found Northeastern’s first-in-the-nation doctoral program in network science—and now he’s using math to understand human relationships and tackle global challenges.

by Greg St. Martin June 2, 2016

World-renowned scholars launch Northeastern’s Network Science Institute

The Network Science Institute, home of the nation’s first doctoral program in network science, brings together an interdisciplinary team of renowned Northeastern scholars to plumb the structure and function of systems and develop intervention strategies to improve the health and security of people around the world.

by Thea Singer November 6, 2015