Summary
My research focusses on the genetics of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Most of my work can be characterised as malaria molecular surveillance, which is a branch of malaria epidemiology in which we aim to extract useful information about malaria transmission from signals stored within the Plasmodium genome. This type of analysis typically involves coordinated efforts and long analysis pipelines, going all the way from data collection in the field to wet lab and bioinformatics and finally to statistical analysis of the processed data. My role is towards the end of this pipeline where I focus on developing new mathematical and computational methods to get the most value out of genetic data.
Current projects include development of the SIMPLEGEN pipeline, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In this project we will develop a simulation pipeline to allow researchers and control programmes to explore sampling designs in silico before committing real world resources, thereby leading to more efficient use of resources. I am also working on several projects that will use molecular inversion probes (a type of DNA sequencing) to characterise Plasmodium populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding countries, with the aim of quantifying levels of drug and diagnostic resistance within and between countries.
My broad research interests include population genetics, Bayesian statistical methods, and analysis of spatial data. In 2020/2021 I worked as part of the Imperial College COVID-19 response team, where myself and colleagues provided some of the earliest estimates of COVID-19 fatality rates.
For more info check out my website at www.bobverity.com
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Okell LC, Verity R, Watson OJ, et al., 2020, Have deaths from COVID-19 in Europe plateaued due to herd immunity?, The Lancet, Vol:395, ISSN:0140-6736, Pages:E110-E111
Verity R, Okell LC, Dorigatti I, et al., 2020, Estimates of the severity of coronavirus disease 2019: a model-based analysis., Lancet Infectious Diseases, Vol:20, ISSN:1473-3099, Pages:669-677
Verity R, Aydemir O, Brazeau NF, et al., 2020, The impact of antimalarial resistance on the genetic structure of Plasmodium falciparum in the DRC., Nature Communications, Vol:11, ISSN:2041-1723, Pages:1-10
Deutsch-Feldman M, Aydemir O, Carrel M, et al., 2019, The changing landscape of <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> drug resistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bmc Infectious Diseases, Vol:19
Wesolowski A, Taylor AR, Chang H-H, et al., 2018, Mapping malaria by combining parasite genomic and epidemiologic data, Bmc Medicine, Vol:16
Aydemir O, Janko M, Hathaway NJ, et al., 2018, Drug-resistance and population structure of plasmodium falciparum across the Democratic Republic of Congo using high-throughput molecular inversion probes, Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol:218, ISSN:0022-1899, Pages:946-955
Watson O, Slater HC, Verity R, et al., 2017, Modelling the drivers of the spread of Plasmodium falciparum hrp2 gene deletions in sub-Saharan Africa, Elife, Vol:6, ISSN:2050-084X
Verity R, Nichols RA, 2016, Estimating the Number of Subpopulations ( K ) in Structured Populations, Genetics, Vol:203, ISSN:0016-6731, Pages:1827-1839
Penny MA, Verity RV, Bever C, et al., 2015, Public health impact and cost-effectiveness of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine: a systematic comparison of predictions from four mathematical models, The Lancet, Vol:387, ISSN:0140-6736, Pages:367-375
Verity R, Nichols RA, 2014, What is genetic differentiation, and how should we measure it-<i>G</i><sub>ST</sub>, <i>D</i>, neither or both?, Molecular Ecology, Vol:23, ISSN:0962-1083, Pages:4216-4225
Verity R, Stevenson MD, Rossmo DK, et al., 2014, Spatial targeting of infectious disease control: identifying multiple, unknown sources, Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Vol:5, ISSN:2041-210X, Pages:647-655