Max Melchior Lang
DPhil Student
Max Melchior Lang is a DPhil student in Population Health at the Big Data Institute, supervised by Associate Professor Goylette Chami and Professor Christl Donnelly. His research focuses on the modeling of diseases within multimorbid settings, specifically exploring the co-distribution of schistosomiasis and malaria within the Schistotrack Cohort Study in rural Uganda.
Despite different transmission cycles (mosquito-borne protozoans for malaria and waterborne blood flukes for schistosomiasis) shared socioeconomic and ecological factors influence the infection risk for both diseases. Additionally, evidence suggests that certain antimalarial medications, like Coartem, may inadvertently treat schistosome infections. Understanding these interactions is crucial, as they can lead to conditions such as splenomegaly and anemia, which complicate clinical management and public health strategies.
Max's research utilises Bayesian networks and other advanced statistical models to uncover shared pathways and co-infection dynamics, with the aim of improving treatment targeting and understanding of disease interactions in vulnerable populations.
Before his DPhil, Max earned an MSc in Statistical Science from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Statistics from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. His previous projects include developing tools for innovative data collection and contributing to public health surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also gained experience as an independent contractor for the UN and as a student researcher jointly at Meta (formerly Facebook) and LMU, where he worked on large-scale data projects related to public health and social impact.