Kat Rock

Professor Kat Rock is a mathematical epidemiologist at the University of Warwick, holding a full professorship with office MSB 5:11. She actively contributes to research and teaching within the Mathematics and Statistics Building, participating in the Warwick Maths Colloquium and delivering courses like MA4M1 Epidemiology by Example (Term 2, 2022/23).

Her research centers on population-level disease dynamics with specialized focus on vector-borne transmission and neglected tropical diseases. She develops innovative mathematical models including ODEs, stochastic frameworks, Bayesian methods, and health economic evaluations to address elimination strategies for diseases like human African trypanosomiasis (HAT/sleeping sickness). Her work bridges theoretical modeling with practical public health applications, particularly through Gates Foundation-funded initiatives.

Professor Rock leads the international HAT MEPP project consortium assessing elimination strategies for sleeping sickness, previously contributed to the NTD Modelling Consortium evaluating WHO elimination targets, and has expanded her disease portfolio to include Zika, Malaria, Visceral leishmaniasis, and Avian malaria in Hawaiian ecosystems. Her methodological expertise spans numerical simulation, PDEs, and branching processes applied to complex disease systems.

Key research funding includes:

• HAT MEPP 3 (2024-2028, Gates Foundation)
• HAT MEPP 2 (2020-2024, Gates Foundation)
• NTD Modelling Consortium (2017-2021, Gates Foundation)
• HAT MEPP (2017-2021, Gates Foundation)

She actively disseminates findings through academic seminars including Warwick Maths Colloquium (January 2022) on cost-effective elimination strategies and Teaching & Learning Seminars (December 2021) on innovative assessment methods, while maintaining project visibility through her dedicated homepage (https://go.warwick.ac.uk/hatmepp).