network science

This map shows data on confirmed cases of COVID-19 exclusively collected from publicly-available sources, including government reports and news media. Courtesy of HealthMap. Courtesy of Samuel Scarpino

‘We find ourselves asking scientists to do more than simply study the virus’

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, epidemiological models continue to provide vital information for lawmakers, public health officials, and people trying to slow the spread of the coronavirus. This has put the scientists who make the models in the spotlight.

by Laura Castañón July 6, 2020

This map, created by Alessandro Vespignani and his team, predicts the number of infections in different parts of the U.S., assuming

Models can predict how COVID-19 will spread. What goes into them, and how can we use what they tell us?

On Thursday, Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern, will sit down for a conversation with Alessandro Vespignani, the director of Northeastern’s Network Science Institute, who is leading one of the major efforts to model this disease.

by Laura Castañón May 13, 2020

Subway customers wear masks on a crowded car heading downtown, on March 17, 2020, in New York. AP Photo by John Minchillo

The coronavirus was in the US in January. We need to understand how we missed it.

SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, was circulating in major U.S. cities as early as January, says Alessandro Vespignani, director of Northeastern’s Network Science Institute. And if we want to keep our communities safe going forward, we need to understand how we missed a virus that was right under our noses.

by Laura Castañón April 26, 2020

People waiting queue to take a sample for a covid-19 test, on April 23, 2020, in Prague, Czech Republic. Photo by Katerina Sulova CTK via AP Images

Herd immunity won’t come anytime soon for COVID-19

Herd immunity is the idea that a disease can’t spread through a population once a large enough percentage is immune, either because they’ve recovered from an infection or received a vaccine. But that won’t work with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, said Samuel Scarpino, an assistant professor who runs the Emergent Epidemics lab at Northeastern.

by Laura Castañón April 23, 2020

Data visualation by: Albert-László Barabási. BarabasiLab 2019

Network scientists identify 40 new drugs to test against COVID-19

Researchers at Northeastern mapped the way proteins within human cells behave after a cell is hijacked by the virus to find new and existing drugs that might be able to fight COVID-19. The team is now working with other experimental researchers to begin testing those drugs.

by Roberto Molar Candanosa April 2, 2020

This transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19. isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. Photo courtesy of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-Rocky Mountain Laboratories

One way to predict the spread of COVID-19? Follow the memes.

Network scientist Samuel Scarpino shows how epidemiologists can more comprehensively map infectious disease outbreaks, which follow the same complex spreading patterns as social trends.

by Emily Arntsen March 3, 2020

David Lazer one of the authors of the paper, is University Distinguished Professor of political science and computer and information sciences at Northeastern.
Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

American democracy is a dumpster fire. We can still save it.

Northeastern professor David Lazer’s work in pioneering the new discipline of computational social science using network analysis, computational modeling, and field experiments has earned him the prestigious Klein Lectureship and a University Distinguished Professor appointment.

by Khalida Sarwari April 12, 2019

Using an experimental setup similar to that used by pharmaceutical companies, Northeastern professor David Lazer, named the 2019 Robert D. Klein Lecturer, was looking for ways to solve some of the biggest issues threatening democracy in the U.S. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

How to fix democracy in the United States

Using an experimental setup similar to that used by pharmaceutical companies, Northeastern professor David Lazer and his colleagues were looking for ways to solve some of the biggest issues threatening democracy in the U.S. At the 55th annual Robert D. Klein Lecture on Thursday, Lazer described what they found.

by Molly Callahan March 21, 2019

“We haven’t even come close to explaining why the world is the way it is,” James Halverson says. “But we demonstrated a selection mechanism that could someday be an important piece of the final answer.” Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Think of a flea on a tightrope. You’re unravelling the nature of the universe.

Theoretical physicists at Northeastern have teamed up with network scientists to find a new way to examine the fundamental nature of our universe.

by Laura Castañón March 5, 2019

Samuel Scarpino, an assistant professor in Northeastern’s Network Science Institute, analyzed 25 years of data for 10 different infectious diseases to determine how far in advance epidemics can be predicted. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

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