Publications – Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics

Comparative performance of between-population vaccine allocation strategies with applications for emerging pandemics.

Author(s): Joshi K, Rumpler E, Kennedy-Shaffer L, Bosan R, Lipsitch MJournal: VaccinePMID: 36697312 January 2023

Vaccine allocation decisions during emerging pandemics have proven to be challenging due to competing ethical, practical, and political considerations. Complicating…

Estimating vaccine efficacy against transmission via effect on viral load.

Author(s): Kennedy-Shaffer L, Kahn R, Lipsitch MJournal: EpidemiologyPMID: 34469363 September 2021

Determining policies to end the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will require an understanding of the efficacy and effectiveness (hereafter, efficacy) of vaccines.…

Viral loads observed under competing strain dynamics

Author(s): Hay JA, Kennedy-Shaffer L, Mina MJJournal: medRxiv July 2021

A plausible mechanism for the increased transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) results from VOC infections causing higher viral…

Estimating epidemiologic dynamics from cross-sectional viral load distributions.

Author(s): Hay JA, Kennedy-Shaffer L, Kanjilal S, Lennon NJ, Gabriel SB, Lipsitch M, Mina MJJournal: SciencePMID: 34083451 June 2021

Estimating an epidemic's trajectory is crucial for developing public health responses to infectious diseases, but case data used for such…

Estimating vaccine efficacy against transmission via effect on viral load

Author(s): Kennedy-Shaffer L, Kahn R, Lipsitch MJournal: medRxiv May 2021

Determining policies to end the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will require an understanding of the efficacy and effectiveness (hereafter, efficacy) of vaccines.…

Snowball Sampling Study Design for Serosurveys Early in Disease Outbreaks.

Author(s): Kennedy-Shaffer L, Qiu X, Hanage WPJournal: Am J EpidemiolPMID: 33831177 April 2021

Serological surveys can provide evidence of cases that were not previously detected, depict the spectrum of disease severity, and estimate…

Perfect as the enemy of good: tracing transmissions with low-sensitivity tests to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks.

Author(s): Kennedy-Shaffer L, Baym M, Hanage WPJournal: Lancet MicrobePMID: 33748803 March 2021

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and individuals have attempted a wide variety of strategies to limit the damage of the…

How to detect and reduce potential sources of biases in studies of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.

Author(s): Accorsi EK, Qiu X, Rumpler E, Kennedy-Shaffer L, Kahn R, Joshi K, Goldstein E, Stensrud MJ, Niehus R, Cevik M, Lipsitch MJournal: Eur J EpidemiolPMID: 33634345 February 2021

In response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, public health scientists have produced a large and rapidly expanding body of…

Potential Biases Arising from Epidemic Dynamics in Observational Seroprotection Studies.

Author(s): Kahn R, Kennedy-Shaffer L, Grad YH, Robins JM, Lipsitch MJournal: Am J EpidemiolPMID: 32870977 September 2020

The extent and duration of immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection are critical outstanding questions about the epidemiology of this novel virus,…

Statistical Properties of Stepped Wedge Cluster-Randomized Trials in Infectious Disease Outbreaks.

Author(s): Kennedy-Shaffer L, Lipsitch MJournal: Am J EpidemiolPMID: 32648891 July 2020

Randomized controlled trials are crucial for the evaluation of interventions such as vaccinations, but the design and analysis of these…