Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models (IHBEM)

The Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models (IHBEM) program supports interdisciplinary research that incorporates social and behavioral processes in mathematical epidemiological models. The program was motivated by the urgent need revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide more useful modeling tools to inform decision making and evaluate public health policies during pandemics and other public health crises. Projects should involve integrated participation from both the mathematical sciences and the social, behavioral, or economic sciences. The goal is to ensure that public health interventions have their intended effects by incorporating realistic human behavioral and social processes into epidemiological models. Research challenges include incorporating behavioral realism and sensitivity analysis, modeling behavioral change over time, incorporating multiple environments (climate, seasonal, political, social), addressing population heterogeneity and policy models, and identifying data needs for rich mathematical epidemiological models.