Biography

Andrew Lover is an assistant professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, at UMass-Amherst. His research covers a broad range of infectious disease epidemiology, including tick-borne disease; surveillance and forecasting; malaria; and the design, implementation, and analysis of complex epidemiological studies, in both domestic (Western Massachusetts) and global contexts (including Vietnam, Lao PDR, Timor-Leste, and Cambodia).

SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. He is currently supporting global efforts to mitigate the impacts of this pandemic. This work includes a faculty role in UMass campus response; syndromic surveillance and modeling studies; and implementation of a large-scale serological survey (“antibody test”) across Massachusetts. This study (Sero-Mass) enrolled ca. 1,250 participants across the Commonwealth in the Summer 2020; preliminary results are expected in the fall.

Tick-borne infections. The Lover Lab has recently received funding (September 2020) from the NIH for tick-borne studies in Western Massachusetts. These novel spatial case-control studies will aim to identify areas with highest human-tick overlaps, to help optimize public health tick surveillance programs in New England and beyond. More info here: (https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=10057722).

His lab currently consists of two PhD students (Estee Cramer and Teah Snyder) and an MS student (Johanna Ravenhurst) and all are actively involved in SARS-CoV-2 public health response, including contact tracing, and modeling. Their main research studies involve a combination of qualitative and quantitative field data collection, quantitative analysis, and modeling to directly inform public health policy.