Pauline de Best

Pauline de Best is a Researcher at Erasmus University Medical Center specializing in mosquito-borne diseases and public health preparedness. Her work focuses on West Nile Virus, emerging infectious diseases, and One Health approaches to disease surveillance and prevention in the Netherlands and Europe.

Her research interests center on the intersection of public health, veterinary medicine, and climate change impacts on vector-borne diseases. She employs social network analysis and cross-sectional survey methodologies to understand stakeholder collaboration, risk perception, and preventive behaviors related to mosquito-borne viruses. Her work particularly examines the role of animal surveillance (especially in horses and dogs) as an early warning system for human health threats.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on translating scientific knowledge into practical public health interventions. Her research demonstrates how social network structures influence disease preparedness, how climate factors affect vector distribution, and how public perceptions shape prevention behaviors across different European contexts. She has developed and validated the MosquitoWise survey tool to standardize assessment of community perceptions toward mosquito-borne diseases.

Dr. de Best's work has garnered attention in policy circles, with one publication referenced in policy sources, and has been widely shared on social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky, indicating its relevance to current public health discourse. Her research has accumulated citations across Scopus-indexed journals and has attracted readership on academic platforms like Mendeley.

Her doctoral thesis titled 'Knowledge to practice: Translation of scientific outputs to preparedness and response for mosquito-borne viruses' represents a comprehensive synthesis of her research, offering practical frameworks for improving public health responses to emerging vector-borne threats. She collaborates extensively with leading researchers in the field including Marion Koopmans, Aura Timen, and Rianne Sikkema at Erasmus MC.