The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Solomon Shibairo addressing the researchers at the event.
Prof. Farai Nyabadza, a visiting Professor from the University of Johannesburg has advised that a close collaboration between decision-makers, subject matter experts, and model builders is significant for accurate decision-making. This was during his public lecture titled to Scientists that was held on 26 October 2023 at the Vice Chancellor's Boardroom.
This lecture was graced by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Solomon Shibairo, and attended by staff and postgraduate students across various disciplines such as Mathematics, Health Sciences, and Biological Sciences. Models are a representation of reality. They mimic real life and are most often used to discover how a situation may develop in response to different interventions. They can also be used in understanding how a real system works.
The Vice Chancellor applauded the visiting professor for the insightful lecture he offered. He emphasized that the overarching purpose of models is to allow a flexible framework in which different scenarios can be tested. He urged the researchers to bring together perspectives on mathematical modeling of infectious diseases and to generate answers to questions we can't get from observations.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Solomon Shibairo emphasizes a point during his address.
In his presentation, Prof. Nyabadza noted that introducing policy changes in mathematical models is critical for a holistic view of epidemic-influenced dynamic policies. They present a unique opportunity to investigate how policies impact disease. He further stated that the parameters of a mathematical model can be refined when we compare the outputs of the model to the existing information.
“Building a ‘correct’ model is a complex concept. Rather than asking whether a model is right, it is advisable to ask whether the model is useful. It is for this reason that a better understanding of the processes of modeling and a greater awareness of how and when models can be dependably used are important,” he noted.
Prof. Farai Nyabadza, the visiting Professor from the University of Johannesburg giving his public lecture.
While model creators may be experts in the field of Mathematics and Computing they are required to work together with subject matter experts throughout the process of model building so that the biological validity of the model becomes ‘built-in’. similarly, dialogue should also be maintained with those providing data for the model to understand any limitations of the data.
Notably, modeling remains a very suitable technique to support policy decision-making. Mathematical modeling is considered to be the most useful in evaluating possible interventions and predicting future epidemic curves.
By Linet Owuor
Photos by Shiundu Masafu
