Dr. Du Zhanwei serves as an Associate Professor and PhD Supervisor at the School of Public Health and Emergency Management, SUSTech. Dr. Du obtained his PhD in Computer Science from Jilin University, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Texas at Austin and Hong Kong Baptist University. Then he served as a Research Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong. His general research area is applied machine learning for public health, focusing on modeling complex human behavior at all scales, understanding disease transmission, and optimizing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of public health interventions.

Dr. Du has led multiple national and international research projects, including National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the General Research Fund of Hong Kong(GRF), Health and Medical Research Fund of Hong Kong (HMRF), Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macau Science and Technology Project (Category C), and Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Urban Land Resources Monitoring and Simulation, Ministry of Land and Resources. He has also participated as a core researcher in projects funded by US National Science Foundation (NSF), and US National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (HHS - CDC).

To date, Dr. Du has published high-profile papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Nature Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Public Health, PNAS, Nature Communications, and other top-tier journals. In total, he has published more than 100 articles in the field of computational sociology and epidemiology, with more than 3000 citations in total and an H-index of 24. These works have been featured in the People's Daily, New York Times, Nature News, and Washington Post.

Dr. Du's research group welcomes applications for PhD, postdoctoral, research assistant (RA), and visiting student positions. Interested candidates should email their CV and personal statement to duzw@sustech.edu.cn.

Education

2012.08-2015.07    Ph.D., Computer science, Jilin University, China

2009.08-2012.07    M.PHIL., Computer Science, Jilin University, China

2005.08-2009.07    B.S., Computer Science, Changchun Technology University, China

Work Experience

2020.12-2025.11    Research Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

2020.06-2020.12    Research Associate, Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas, The United States

2016.11-2020.05    Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas, The United States

2015.06-2016.06    Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China

Research Interests

1. Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases and Control Strategies;

2. Evaluation of vaccines for infectious diseases and immunization strategies.

Awards

World's top 2% scientists 2023 and 2024 in artificial intelligence by Stanford University

Faculty Outstanding Research Output Award from LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU

Academic Contributions to Epidemic Studies in 2022 and 2024, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU

Health and Medical Research Fund Fellowship for antiviral studies in 2022, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU

Research Funding

1.Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province: Health economics analysis of long-acting antibodies to respiratory syncytial virus, 2025-2027, PI.

2.Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macau Science and Technology Project (Category C): Cross-border surveillance and joint prevention and control of infectious diseases in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, 2024-2026, PI.

3.General Research Fund: Impact of baloxavir treatment to mitigate future influenza epidemics in Hong Kong and the United States in the post-COVID-19 era, 2022-2024, PI.

4.Health and Medical Research Fund: Proactive COVID-19 testing strategies in the time of mass vaccination in Hong Kong, 2022-2024, PI.

5.Health and Medical Research Fund Research Fellowship Scheme: Impact of SARS-CoV-2 antivirals to mitigate virus spread and reduce COVID-19 disease in the population, 2022-2024, PI.

6.National Natural Science Foundation of China: Research on early warning and mass testing strategies for next pandemic based on big data, 2022-2024, PI.

7.The University of Hong Kong via Seed Fund for Basic Research for Resubmission of GRF/ECS Proposals: Optimizing epidemic surveillance of influenza infections using historical electronic health records, 2023, PI.

8.The University of Hong Kong via Seed Fund for Basic Research for New Staff: Epidemiological impacts of baloxavir to mitigate influenza epidemics, 2021-2023, PI.

9.Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Urban Land Resources Monitoring and Simulation, Ministry of Land and Resources: Research on urban emergency medicine distribution strategy and its key technologies, 2020-2021, PI.

10.Health and Medical Research Fund: Optimizing border control measures to prevent importations of COVID-19 or another pandemic infection., 2022-2024, Co-I.

11.Health and Medical Research Fund: The impact of higher-order interactions in human mobility networks on the transmission of COVID-19 in Hong Kong and mainland China, 2023-2025, Co-I.

12.Health and Medical Research Fund, Estimation of real-time clinical severity of COVID-19 and its impact on time-varying distributions of epidemiological characteristics using syndromic and viral load data in Hong Kong, 2023-2025, Co-I.

13.US National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases: Modeling toolkit to evaluate multifaceted control strategies for seasonal and pandemic influenza,2020-2025, Co-I.

14.Health and Medical Research Fund: Assessment of seasonality of influenza and COVID-19 transmission to predict their future dynamics and burden in Hong Kong, 2022-2024, Co-I.

15.US National Science Foundation: Center for pandemic decision science - developing robust paradigms for anticipating and mitigating uncertain pathogen threats, 2022-2024, Co-I.

Selected Publications

1.Du Z, Pandey A, Moghadas SM, Bai Y, Wang L, Matrajt L, Singer BH, Galvani AP. (2024) Reducing Burden of Respiratory Syncytial Virus through RSVpreF Vaccination: A Modelling Study of Thirteen High-Income Countries. Nature Medicine, JCR Q1, IF:82.9

2.Du Z, Wang S, Chen R, Shan S, Bai Y, Wang L, et al. Efficacy and safety of respiratory syncytial virus prefusion F protein vaccines in adults. The Journal of Infection.(2024); 106211, IF:14

3.Du Z, Wang L, Bai Y, Pei Y, Peng W, Cowling BJ. (2023) Mitigation of RSV epidemics by RSVpreF post-COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom: a modeling study. Lancet, 402 Suppl 1, S39,JCR Q1, IF: 168.9

4.Du Z, Wang L, Bai Y, Feng S, Ramachandran S, Lim WW, Lau EHY, Malani A, Cowling BJ. (2023) Cost effectiveness of fractional doses of COVID-19 vaccine boosters in India. Med, 4(3) 182–190.e3, JCR Q1, IF :17

5.Du Z, Shao Z, Bai Y, Wang L, Herrera-Diestra JL, Fox SJ, Ertem Z, Lau EHY, Cowling BJ. (2022) Reproduction number of monkeypox in the early stage of the 2022 multi-country outbreak. Journal of Travel Medicine, 29(8), JCR Q1 IF: 25.7

6.Du Z, Wang L, Shan S, Lam D, Tsang TK, Xiao J, Gao H, Yang B, Ali ST, Pei S, Fung IC-H, Lau EHY, Liao Q, Wu P, Meyers LA, Leung GM, Cowling BJ. (2022) Pandemic fatigue impedes mitigation of COVID-19 in Hong Kong. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(48), JCR Q1,IF:11.1

7.Du Z, Wang L, Pandey A, Lim WW, Chinazzi M, Piontti APY, Lau EHY, Wu P, Malani A, Cobey S, Cowling BJ. (2022) Modeling comparative cost-effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose fractionation in India. Nature Medicine, 28(5) 934–938, JCR Q1, IF:82.9

8.Du Z, Tian L, Jin D Y. (2022) Understanding the impact of rapid antigen tests on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong in early 2022. Emerging Microbes & Infections, 11(1) 1394-1401, JCR Q1, IF: 13.2

9.Du Z, Pandey A, Bai Y, Fitzpatrick MC, Chinazzi M, Pastore Y Piontti A, Lachmann M, Vespignani A, Cowling BJ, Galvani AP, Meyers LA. (2021) Comparative cost-effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 testing strategies in the USA: a modelling study. The Lancet Public Health, 6(3) e184–e191, JCR Q1, IF: 50, C100，ESI

10. Du Z, Xu X, Wu Y, Wang L, Cowling BJ, Meyers LA. (2020) Serial Interval of COVID-19 among Publicly Reported Confirmed Cases. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 26(6) 1341–1343, JCR Q1, IF: 11.8,C100，ESI

11.Du Z, Wang L, Cauchemez S, Xu X, Wang X, Cowling BJ, Meyers LA. (2020) Risk for Transportation of Coronavirus Disease from Wuhan to Other Cities in China. Emerging Infectious Diseases, JCR Q1, IF:7.9,C100

12.Du Z, Nugent C, Galvani AP, Krug RM, Meyers LA. (2020) Modeling mitigation of influenza epidemics by baloxavir. Nature Communications, 11(1), JCR Q1, IF:16.6