Ivan Specht Email & Phone Number

Stanford, Ca, Us

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

• Developed a novel statistical model for within-host genetic diversity of infectious disease by applying stochastic branching processes to viral replication.• Programmed a custom Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to infer transmission links in viral outbreaks based on within-host diversity.• First-authored an epidemiology paper on the efficacy of a COVID-19 testing strategy for institutions that hinges on first detecting transmission in the surrounding community (Nature Scientific Reports, 2022; featured in The New York Times, 2021).• First-authored an epidemiology paper on risk of exposure to COVID-19 associated with different social contact network structures (Cell Patterns, 2022; featured in Broad Communications, 2022).

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

• Coordinated the deployment of Operation Outbreak, a proprietary outbreak simulation technology used for educational purposes, at four high schools and universities in the U.S..• Authored two chapters of the accompanying Operation Outbreak Textbook, a collegiate-level textbook on infectious disease, epidemiology, and mathematical disease modeling.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

• First-authored a paper on variance in randomized Pólya Urn models using martingale theory, with applications to viral genetics (with Professor Michael Mitzenmacher, Department of Computer Science).• Derived novel approximations and their error bounds for probability distributions arising from randomized Pólya Urn models (with Professor Phillip M. Wood, Department of Mathematics).• Derived bounds on empirical risk minimization (ERM) estimators for generalized random objects (with Professor Morgane Austern, Department of Statistics).

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

• Taught sections, held office hours, and graded problem sets for Math 112 (real analysis).

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

· Oversaw the cover design, layout, and assembly of The Harvard Advocate, a quarterly literary magazine featuring art, fiction, poetry, and prose from the Harvard undergraduate community and beyond.· Designed a photographic cover and table of contents for the Fall 2022 issue.

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

· Programmed interactive websites to visualize viral outbreak data using d3.js and p5.js.

Kenema District, Eastern Province, Sierra Leone

· Shared proprietary methods and delivered practical trainings in genomic epidemiology, with applications to Lassa Fever and the 2014 Ebola epidemic.

Bo, Southern Province, Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone

• Developed and taught a course on the mathematical modeling of infectious disease, with applications to past and present viral threats facing Sierra Leone.• Collaborated with key government officials including the Ministers of Education and Health, as well as the Vice-Chancellor and Principle of the University of Sierra Leone, to address education and public health goals in the nation.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

• Used NASA measurements of volatile organic compounds in the remote atmosphere to update the global budget of such compounds and their reagents.• Used these results to learn about the concentrations and air-sea fluxes of these compounds in various regions of the ocean.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Computational And Mathematical Engineering

Activities and Societies: 2024 Hertz Fellow, 2024 Knight-Hennessy Scholar

A.B., Mathematics And Statistics, Magna Cum Laude With Highest Honors

Activities and Societies: Design Editor of The Harvard Advocate (literary magazine), Founder of The Harvard Review Section (comedy.

Education record

Education record