James Schlitt

James graduated in 2007 from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biology. While studying at ODU, he developed a compartmental SEIR model in C++ to study multi-strain, multi-population HPV transmission and to evaluate the effectiveness of novel vaccine interventions with regards to student relationship dynamics and abiotic synergy cofactors. For this work, he was awarded the Gene Newman Award for Excellence In Medical Modeling and Simulation Research at the 2007 VMASC Capstone Conference.

Following a couple of years break in the industry, he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology at the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory of the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute.

James’ research topics include the optimization of military pandemic response sequences via agent-based stochastic modeling, the development of web-enabled front and back ends for collaborative research, stochastic search optimization of geographic allocation problems, and the detection of emerging pandemics via social media surveillance.