Head of the Biostatistics & Biomathematics Unit, The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology & Health Policy Research.
Associate professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of
Public Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University.
I earned my PhD in mathematical ecology, and throughout my career, I have actively engaged in modelling infectious diseases. I am committed to developing and applying various computational methods, particularly in understanding the spread of infectious diseases in humans, animals, and plants. My work in infectious diseases focuses on understanding the ecology and transmission dynamics. I have formulated applicable mathematical models and statistical and machine-learning techniques for analysing disease data, particularly in infectious diseases such as measles, polio, leishmaniasis, and influenza.
My significant theoretical contributions include establishing a threshold and devising a formula for its computation to predict the occurrence of an outbreak in seasonal childhood diseases, as published in Nature in 2007. Additionally, we formulated a theoretical framework to analyse the impact of host diversity on vector-borne diseases (PLoS ONE, 2013) and explored the risk of incomplete personal protection in vector-borne diseases (J R Soc Interface, 2016).
Over the past decade, my focus has extended to bridging the gap between dynamical modelling and infectious disease data. I have developed methods and applied them to fit models to data, fostering a culture of data-fitting in infectious disease modelling. Applying these methods to outbreak data, I have explored various aspects, such as the role of weather and punctuated antigenic drift in influenza (J R. Soc. Interface 2013), the importance of data in the initial phase of an epidemic (J R. Soc. Interface 2011), model-based reconstruction of an epidemic using multiple datasets to understand influenza A/H1N1 pandemic dynamics in Israel (J R. Soc. Interface 2016), and modelling the spread of polio in an IPV-vaccinated population in Israel (BMC Medicine 2016). In the context of the polio outbreak in Israel (2013), I have also investigated attitudes toward vaccination, particularly focusing on prosocial vaccination. We developed a modelling framework to comprehend and estimate altruistic vaccination (PNAS 2018). Additionally, I developed a method to estimate polio prevalence from environmental surveillance.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I took the initiative to establish and lead a scientific data analysis advisory group, closely collaborating with the Israeli Ministry of Health. The group's primary objective was to provide support in data analysis, as well as mathematical and statistical modelling of epidemiological data collected in Israel during the pandemic. Our involvement spanned diverse activities, including the design of the Israeli surveillance system, comprehensive data analysis, modelling of COVID-19 data, and the development of mathematical models to understand the virus's spread within the Israeli population.
Our scientific contributions encompassed ground-breaking studies, including one of the first investigations estimating the susceptibility and infectivity of children compared to adults (PLoS Computational Biology 2021). Furthermore, we developed mathematical models to study and prioritize the initial Israeli vaccination campaign, guiding the prioritization of vaccinations during the pandemic. Additionally, a statistical framework was devised to estimate vaccine effectiveness (American Journal of Epidemiology 2022). We were the first to identify waning vaccine immunity during the Delta resurgence, employing a unique methodology that served as the empirical basis for Israel's pioneering booster campaign (New England Journal of Medicine 2021). Moreover, we expanded our methodology to estimate the vaccine effectiveness of the booster (New England Journal of Medicine 2021). This work on waning vaccine immunity and booster effectiveness played a crucial role in the USFDA's decision to approve the third vaccine dose in the United States. More recently, our research delved into estimating waning immunity among recovered individuals and exploring hybrid immunity cases (New England Journal of Medicine 2022). Additionally, we estimated the vaccine effectiveness of the fourth dose (Bar-on et al., New England Journal of Medicine 2022).
To examine the population-level implications of the Israeli booster campaign, we devised a sophisticated modelling framework that incorporated age structure. Our model illuminated two crucial insights: the significance of administering boosters swiftly and the importance of vaccinating not only high-risk individuals. The model played a pivotal role in the decision-making process, substantiating and emphasizing these key points (Science Translational Medicine 2022).
M. Petrenko, S.P. Friedman, R. Fluss, Z. Pasternak, A. Huppert, E. Jurkevitch. Spacial heterogeneity stabilizes predator–prey interactions at the microscale while patch connectivity controls their outcome. Environ Microbiol, 2020, 22 (2), 694-704.
C.R. Wells#, A. Huppert#, M. C. Fitzpatrick, A. Pandey, B. Velan, H. Singer, C. T. Bauch, A.P. Galvani. Prosocial polio vaccination in Israel. P Natl Acad Sci, May 26, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1922746117
I. Dattner, Y. Goldberg, G. Katriel, R. Yaari, N. Gal, Y. Miron, A. Ziv, Y. Hamo, A. Huppert. The role of children in the spread of COVID-19: Using household data from Bnei Brak, Israel, to estimate the relative susceptibility and infectivity of children. Plos Comput Biol, February 11, 2021.
R. Sathyamoorthy, A. Huppert, D.E. Kadouri, E. Jurkevitch. Effects of the prey landscape on the fitness of the bacterial predators Bdellovibrio and like organisms. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 97 (5), fiab047, 2021.
R. Sathyamoorthy, Y. Kushmaro, O. Rotem, O. Matan, D.E. Kadouri, A. Huppert, E. Jurkevitch. To hunt or to rest: prey depletion induces a novel starvation survival strategy in bacterial predators. ISME J 15, 109–123 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-00764-2
Y. Lustig, G. Regev-Yochai, E. Mendelson, E. Sapir, C. Cohen, C. Rubin, L. Olmer, V. Indenbaum, M. Mandelboim, R. Fluss, R. Doolman, A. Huppert, L.S. Freedman, Y. Kreiss, A. Ziv, S. Amit. BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine and correlates of humoral immune responses and dynamics: a prospective, single-centre, longitudinal cohort study in health-care workers. Lancet Resp Med, 2021 Jul 2. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00220-4 [Epub ahead of print]
T. Kustin, N. Harel, U. Finkel, S. Perchik, S.I. Harari, M. Tahor, I. Caspi, R.l. Levy, M. Leschinsky, S. Ken Dror, G. Bergerzon, H. Gadban, F. Gadban, E. Eliassian, O. Shimron, L. Saleh, H. Ben-Zvi, D. Amichay, A. Ben-Dor, D. Sagas, M. Strauss, Y. Shemer Avni, A. Huppert, E. Kepten, R. Balicer, D. Nezer, S. Ben-Shachar, A. Stern. Evidence for increased breakthrough rates of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in BNT162b2 mRNA vaccinated individuals. Nat Med, 10, 2021.
Y. M. Bar-On, Y. Goldberg, M. Mandel, O. Bodenheimer, L.S. Freedman, N. Kalkstein, B. Mizrahi, S. Alroy-Preis, N. Ash, R. Milo#, A. Huppert#. Protection of BNT162b2 Vaccine Booster against Covid-19 in Israel. N Engl J Med, 2021 Sep 15
Y. Goldberg, M. Mandel, Y. M. Bar-On, O. Bodenheimer, L.S. Freedman, E. J. Haas, R. Milo, S. Alroy-Preis, N. Ash#, A. Huppert#. Waning immunity after the BNT162b2 vaccine in Israel. N Engl J Med
Y. Daon, A. Huppert, U. Obolski. DOPE: D-Optimal Pooling Experimental design with application for SARS-CoV-2 screening. JAMIA. 2021
Y. Daon, A. Huppert#, U. Obolski#. An Accurate Model for SARS-CoV-2 Pooled RT-PCR Test Errors. R. Soc. Open Sci. 2021
O. Mor, N.S. Zuckerman, I. Hazan, R. Fluss , N. Ash , N. Ginish ,E. Mendelson, S. Alroy-Preis., L.S. Freedman#, A. Huppert#. BNT162b2 vaccine effectiveness was marginally affected by the SARS-CoV-2 beta variant in fully vaccinated individuals. J. Clin. Epidemiol, 2022, Feb.
Y. Bar-On, Y. Goldberg, M. Mandel, O. Bodenheimer, L.S. Freedman, S. Alroy-Preis, N. Ash, A. Huppert#, R. Milo#. Protection against Covid-19 by BNT162b2 Booster across age groups. N Engl J Med., 2021
D.R. Feikin , M.M. Higdon, L.J. Abu-Raddad , N. Andrews , R. Araos , Y. Goldberg , M.J. Groome , A. Huppert , K.L. O'Brien , P.G. Smith , A. Wilder-Smith, S. Zeger , M. Deloria Knoll , M.K. Patel. Duration of effectiveness of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease: results of a systematic review and meta-regression. Lancet. 2022; Mar 5
Y. Goldberg, M. Mandel, Y. Woodbridge, R. Fluss, I. Novikov, R. Yaari, A. Ziv, L.S. Freedman, A. Huppert. Similarity of Protection conferred by previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and by BNT162b2 vaccine: A three-month nationwide experience from Israel. Am. J. Epidemiol. 2022 Jul.
M. Benderly, A. Huppert^, I. Novikov, A. Ziv, O.Kalter-Leibovici. Fighting a pandemic: sociodemographic disparities and coronavirus disease-2019 vaccination gaps - a population study. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2022 Jun.
N. Gavish, R. Yaari, A. Huppert, G. Katriel. Population-level implications of the Israeli booster campaign to curtail COVID-19 resurgence. Sci. Transl. Med.14, eabn9836 (2022) 1 June 2022.doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.18.22269141.
Y. Bar-On, Y. Goldberg, M. Mandel, O. Bodenheimer, L.S. Freedman, S. Alroy-Preis, N. Ash, A. Huppert#, R. Milo#. Protection by 4th dose of BNT162b2 against Omicron in Israel. N Engl J Med , 2022 May 5. 386,1712-1720. 2022; #Authors contributed equally.
R Yaari, A Huppert, I Dattner. Data-driven clustering of infectious disease incidence into age groups. Stat Methods Med Res, 2022 Dec;31(12):2486-2499.
Goldberg Y, Mandel M, Bar-On YM, O. Bodenheimer, L.S. Freedman, S. Alroy-Preis, N. Ash, A. Huppert#, R. Milo#. Protection and waning of natural and hybrid COVID-19 immunity. N Engl J Med, 2022, Jun 386 (23), 2201-2212 #Authors contributed equally.
Y Woodbridge, S Amit, A Huppert, N Kopelman. Viral load dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants following multiple vaccine doses and previous infection. Nat. Commun., 2022, Nov, Volume 13, Issue 1.
O Amir, Y Goldberg, M Mandel, YM Bar On, O Bodenheimer, N Ash, S Alroy-Preis, A Huppert, R Milo. Protection following BNT162b2 booster in adolescents substantially exceeds that of a fresh 2-dose vaccine. Nat. Commun., 2022, Apr 13, Volume 13.
O Amir, Y Goldberg, M Mandel, YM Bar-On, O Bodenheimer, N Ash, S Alroy-Preis, A Huppert#, R Milo#. Initial protection against SARS-CoV-2 omicron lineage infection in children and adolescents by BNT162b2 in Israel: an observational study. 2023.vol 23, 67-73. #Authors contributed equally. Lancet Infect Dis 2023, Jan ; 23: 67–73.
Y.Goldberg, O.Amir, M.Mandel, L.Freedman, YM.Bar-On, O.Bodenheimer, R.Milo, A.Huppert. Measuring vaccine protection when the population is mostly vaccinated. J Clin Epidemiol. 2023 Sep 27;163:111-116. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2023.09.009. Online ahead of print.PMID: 37774957
O.Amir, Y.Goldberg, M.Mandel, YM.Bar-On, O.Bodenheimer, L.Freedman, S.Alroy-Preis, N.Ash, A.Huppert, R.Milo. Protection against Omicron BA.1/BA.2 severe disease 0-7 months after BNT162b2 booster. Commun Biol. 2023 Mar 23;6(1):315. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04669-6.PMID: 36959496 Free PMC article.
Y.Goldberg, A.Huppert. To boost or not to boost: navigating post-pandemic COVID-19 vaccination. Lancet Respir Med. 2023 Dec;11(12):1039-1041. doi: 0.1016/S2213-2600(23)00350-8. Epub 2023 Oct 25.PMID: 37898149 .
O.Amir, Y.Goldberg, M.Mandel, YM.Bar-On, LS.Freedman, O.Bodenheimer, A.Huppert, R.Milo. Three phases of increasing complexity in estimating vaccine protection. Int J Epidemiol. 2023 Oct 5;52(5):1299-1302. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyad073.PMID: 37244650
Y. Woodbridge, Y. Goldberg, S. Amit, N M. Kopelman, M. Mandel, A. Huppert. Public Health-Focused Use of COVID-19 Rapid Antigen and PCR Tests. Scientific Reports 14 (1), 1430 2024.
C. Libruder, R. Yaari, R. Fluss, Y. Hershkovitz, A. Ram, D. Tanne, #A. Huppert, #I. Zucker. Age-dependent seasonality in the incidence of stroke: A 21-year population-based study. Eur Stroke J.
2018-2020 PI: Amit Huppert
CO-PI: Micha Mandel Developing a methodology for hospital-acquired infection rate comparable assessment in Israel The Israeli National Institute for Health Policy Research 96,044 USD
2020-2021 PI: Amit Huppert
CO-PI: J. Lewnard Computational methods for integrating sequence and epidemiological data to model transmission of infectious diseases Koret-Berkeley-Tel Aviv (KBT) initiative 20,000 USD
2020-2024 PI: Amit Huppert
CO-PI: J. Lewnard Analyzing the causes for mumps re-emergence in vaccinated populations, combining epidemiology with statistics BSF- US Israel Binational Science Foundation 320,000 USD
2020-2021 PI: Amit Huppert
Mathematical and statistical models of COVID-19 Israeli Ministry of Health 250,000 USD
2020-2025 PI: Amit Huppert
CO-PI: A.Ziv Developing methodologies for approximating waiting time for doctor appointments Israeli Ministry of Health 625,000 USD
2021-2022 PI: Amit Huppert
CO-PI: Sharon Amit & Gili Regev Dynamics of hospital-acquired infection during COVID-10 Sheba -Gertner grant 12,500 USD
2022-2027 PI: E. Jurkevitch
CO-PI: Amit Huppert A combined experimental and modeling eco-evolutionary study of predator-prey dynamics in bacteria ISF 2,462,265 NIS
