Bio

Ao Yu is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Stanford University’s Department of Earth System Science. Working with Professor Giulio De Leo, she studies how anthropogenic disturbances, including climate change, pollution, and land-use change, affect the transmission of parasitic diseases.

Her current research focuses on schistosomiasis and Lyme disease. She combines laboratory experiments and fieldwork with geospatial analysis and mathematical and statistical modeling to investigate the ecological drivers of disease transmission. She also aims to translate these findings into practical, ecologically informed solutions for disease prevention and control.

Ao earned an M.P.H. in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2023. She graduated with honors from Purdue University in 2021 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Chemistry.

Contact

  • Academic
    aoyu@stanford.edu
    University - Student Department: Department of Earth System Science Position: Graduate
    University - Student Department: Department of Earth System Science Position: Graduate

Additional Info

All Publications

  • Re-assessing thermal response of schistosomiasis transmission risk: Evidence for a higher thermal optimum than previously predicted. PLoS neglected tropical diseases Aslan, I. H., Pourtois, J. D., Chamberlin, A. J., Mitchell, K. R., Mari, L., Lwiza, K. M., Wood, C. L., Mordecai, E. A., Yu, A., Tuan, R., Palasio, R. G., Monteiro, A. M., Kirk, D., Athni, T. S., Sokolow, S. H., N'Goran, E. K., Diakite, N. R., Ouattara, M., Gatto, M., Casagrandi, R., Little, D. C., Ozretich, R. W., Norman, R., Allan, F., Brierley, A. S., Liu, P., Pereira, T. A., De Leo, G. A. 2024; 18 (6): e0011836

    Abstract

    The geographical range of schistosomiasis is affected by the ecology of schistosome parasites and their obligate host snails, including their response to temperature. Previous models predicted schistosomiasis' thermal optimum at 21.7°C, which is not compatible with the temperature in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regions where schistosomiasis is hyperendemic. We performed an extensive literature search for empirical data on the effect of temperature on physiological and epidemiological parameters regulating the free-living stages of S. mansoni and S. haematobium and their obligate host snails, i.e., Biomphalaria spp. and Bulinus spp., respectively. We derived nonlinear thermal responses fitted on these data to parameterize a mechanistic, process-based model of schistosomiasis. We then re-cast the basic reproduction number and the prevalence of schistosome infection as functions of temperature. We found that the thermal optima for transmission of S. mansoni and S. haematobium range between 23.1-27.3°C and 23.6-27.9°C (95% CI) respectively. We also found that the thermal optimum shifts toward higher temperatures as the human water contact rate increases with temperature. Our findings align with an extensive dataset of schistosomiasis prevalence in SSA. The refined nonlinear thermal-response model developed here suggests a more suitable current climate and a greater risk of increased transmission with future warming for more than half of the schistosomiasis suitable regions with mean annual temperature below the thermal optimum.

    View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011836

    View details for PubMedID 38857289

  • Correction: Opportunity or catastrophe? effect of sea salt on host-parasite survival and reproduction. PLoS neglected tropical diseases Yu, A., Vannatta, J. T., Gutierrez, S. O., Minchella, D. J. 2022; 16 (5): e0010466

    Abstract

    [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009524.].

    View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010466

    View details for PubMedID 35584358

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9116941

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9021-5317