Luca Ferretti

Luca Ferretti is a Career Development Fellow of the Pandemic Sciences Institute of the University of Oxford and a researcher at the Big Data Institute of the Nuffield Department of Medicine. He is a translational scientist with extensive multidisciplinary experience in complex systems, genomics, evolution and epidemiology of infectious diseases. His research revolves around models and methods to analyse and understand the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of viral pathogens, with a focus on major threats to human and animal health: HIV, SARS-CoV-2, flu, ASFV, FMDV.

Dr. Ferretti’s seminal work on digital contact tracing and COVID-19 epidemiology at the beginning of the pandemic provided the key evidence and the epidemiological rationale for the development of contact-tracing apps around the world. His research has been pivotal for the creation of the Google/Apple Exposure Notification framework, and he advised the Italian government for its development of the first app in the world based on this approach. He has advised the Department of Health and Social Care of the UK government, actively supported the deployment and evaluation of the highly successful COVID-19 NHS app within the NHS Test&Trace program, produced the first large-scale evidence of the epidemiological impact of exposure notification apps, and supported the development of contact-tracing apps in many other countries.

He is passionate about designing, improving, implementing and evaluating public health interventions in preparation for future outbreaks, including novel options for precision epidemiology and epidemic management and control.