Our Team

Leonardo López is a research scientist with a strong academic background in bioinformatics (BSc) and a Ph.D. in Engineering, with a specialization in computational intelligence, signals, and systems. He has extensive experience in the mathematical and computational modeling of infectious diseases, with a focus on agent-based models, stochastic networks, and dynamic systems applied at both individual and population levels.

Professionally, López has contributed significantly to the understanding of complex and self-organized systems, particularly in the context of climate-sensitive and vector-borne diseases. His research has been published in high-impact journals and conferences, reflecting a growing influence in the field. He has supervised undergraduate and master’s students and will begin supervising a doctoral candidate in 2024.

Currently, López is part of the Climate and Health group at ISGlobal. His responsibilities include developing predictive tools for climate-sensitive infectious diseases and contributing to projects such as an AECID-funded initiative to implement early warning systems for dengue in Argentina and Paraguay. He also collaborates with the Climate Sensitive Infectious Disease (CSID) Network, supporting global efforts in climate-informed disease management.

Lines of research

• Mathematical and computational modeling of infectious diseases
• Climate-sensitive and vector-borne diseases
• Development and calibration of predictive tools
• Complex and self-organized systems analysis
• Applied global health and epidemiological surveillance
• Knowledge transfer and human resource training

Main publications

• López, Leonardo, and Xavier Rodo. "A modified SEIR model to predict the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain and Italy: simulating control scenarios and multi-scale epidemics." Results in physics 21 (2021): 103746. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2020.103746
• López, Leonardo, and Xavier Rodó. "The end of social confinement and COVID-19 re-emergence risk." Nature Human Behaviour 4.7 (2020): 746-755. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0908-8 
• Fontal, A., Bouma, M.J., San-José, A., López, L., Pascual, M. and Rodó, X., 2021. Climatic signatures in the different COVID-19 pandemic waves across both hemispheres. Nature Computational Science, 1(10), pp.655-665. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-021-00136-6
• López, L., Burguerner, G. and Giovanini, L., 2014. Addressing population heterogeneity and distribution in epidemics models using a cellular automata approach. BMC research notes, 7, pp.1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-7-234
• López, L., Fernández, M., Gómez, A. and Giovanini, L., 2020. An influenza epidemic model with dynamic social networks of agents with individual behaviour. Ecological Complexity, 41, p.100810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecocom.2020.100810