Dr Aaron Lim
BSc(Alta.), MSc(Alta.), DPhil
Current positions
Lecturer in Infectious Disease Mathematical Modelling
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Contact
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Research interests
I am an applied mathematician interested in modelling the immunology and epidemiology of infectious disease. My current projects involve developing dynamic transmission and cost-effectiveness models for blood-borne virus epidemics (namely, HCV and HIV) in both the general population and in marginalised, high-risk subpopulations such as people who inject drugs (PWID). My main project focusses on generalised HCV epidemics in lower-middle income country (LMIC) settings, for example Pakistan, to identify risk factors involved in the spread of the infection, estimate the extent of HCV-associated morbidity and mortality, and investigate the potential impact and cost-effectiveness of interventions, including prevention and treatment strategies, to reduce the burden of long-term infection and disease.
My doctoral thesis focussed on modelling the within-host dynamics of persistent infection by the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) to help elucidate the complex mechanisms underlying virus infection, persistence, and pathogenesis.
More generally, formulating and analysing mathematical models of infectious diseases can help offer insights into the establishment and trajectory of infection at both the immunological and epidemiological scales. A deeper understanding of these issues is a crucial step to developing effective ways to circumvent the spread of the pathogen under study and may help identify promising new intervention strategies to reduce the burden or severity of long-term infection and associated disease at both the within-host and population levels.
Another project that I am working on explores the impact of opioid substitution treatment (OST) duration on reducing drug-related poisonings (DRP) in a cohort of patients prescribed methadone or buprenorphine in the UK. In this work, I am interested in quantifying the probability of benefit of OST in stabilising or reducing DRP in patients under different treatment modalities and delivery strategies of OST regimens.
Keywords: HCV, HIV, HTLV-I, infectious disease dynamics, immunological and epidemiological models, host-virus interactions, viral persistence, virology, prevention and treatment interventions, incidence, mortality, direct-acting antivirals, opioid substitution treatment, drug-related poisonings, methadone and buprenorphine, mathematical and computational modelling, differential equations and dynamical systems, mathematical biology.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Building the evidence base for cost-effective treatment scale-up for hepatitis C virus in Pakistan healthcare settings
Principal Investigator
Description
Pakistan’s expanding hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic makes up >10% of the global disease burden. Increasing accessibility to highly-effective curative HCV treatment presents an opportunity for healthcare providers in Pakistan…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
15/11/2018 to 31/07/2019
Publications
Recent publications
08/01/2024Effect of integrated hepatitis C virus treatment on psychological distress in people with substance use disorders
Scientific Reports
Cost-effectiveness of integrated treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) among people who inject drugs in Norway
Addiction
Cost-effectiveness of testing for Mycoplasma genitalium among men who have sex with men in Australia
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Incidence of HIV and hepatitis C virus among people who inject drugs, and associations with age and sex or gender
The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Risk factors of HIV and variation in access to clean needles among people who inject drugs in Pakistan
Pathogens and Global Health