Jessica Davis

Jessica Davis serves as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health and Health Sciences at Northeastern University's Bouvé College of Health Sciences and is an active member of the MOBS Lab within the Network Science Institute. Her interdisciplinary work integrates network science methodologies with epidemic modeling to develop practical tools for public health policy and pandemic preparedness, with significant contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Davis earned her PhD in Network Science from Northeastern University, where her dissertation research examined cryptic transmission patterns and the efficacy of travel restrictions during the initial phases of the COVID-19 outbreak. This foundational work established her expertise in bridging theoretical network analysis with real-world public health applications.

Her research program centers on two interconnected domains: Biological and Health Systems, which investigates biological interdependencies through network medicine, systems epidemiology, and public health infrastructure; and Complex Systems Forecasting, which develops network-based computational models for predicting epidemic trajectories and supporting evidence-based decision-making. These areas converge in her development of open-source tools like Epydemix and innovative surveillance frameworks using aircraft wastewater networks.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2021-2025) reveals consistent methodological evolution toward real-time modeling with explicit uncertainty quantification, increasing focus on multi-scale heterogeneity in disease transmission, and growing emphasis on practical implementation of forecasting systems. Her work demonstrates strong continuity in applying network science to epidemic dynamics while expanding into influenza surveillance, variant tracking, and vaccine impact assessment.

No scientific awards or major honors are documented in the available materials, though her research has generated significant policy impact through presentations at venues like the Rhodes Policy Summit and collaborations with governmental agencies.

Dr. Davis has secured substantial research funding including a Gates Foundation partnership investigating equitable global vaccine distribution strategies. While specific advisee relationships aren't publicly listed, she actively contributes to academic training through the MOBS Lab's hiring of computational statistics researchers and participation in the Network Science Student Research Symposium.

The MOBS Lab, directed by Alessandro Vespignani and jointly affiliated with Physics, Health Sciences, and Computer Sciences departments, operates as a hub for computational epidemiology with physical locations in Boston, London, and Portland. Current lab initiatives focus on developing mathematical models for complex network systems with immediate applications to pandemic response, including the aircraft-based wastewater surveillance network featured in her 2025 Nature Medicine publication.