Lauren Ancel Meyers

Science Board, External Professor




Lauren Ancel Meyers is a professor in the Departments of Integrative Biology and Statistics & Data Science at the University of Texas at Austin, where she holds the Cooley Centennial Professorship. She is also a member of the Santa Fe Institute External Faculty, since 2003. Professor Meyers trained as a mathematical biologist at Harvard and Stanford Universities and has pioneered the application of network theory and machine learning to improve the detection, forecasting and control of infectious disease epidemics. She leads an interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and public health experts in uncovering the socio-biological drivers of outbreaks and building practical tools for the CDC and other global health agencies to track and mitigate emerging viral threats, including pandemic influenza, Ebola, HIV, and Zika. Her research has been published in over 100 peer-reviewed articles in major journals and covered by the popular press, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Newsweek, Wired and the BBC. Professor Meyers was named as one of the top 100 global innovators under age 35 by the MIT Technology Review in 2004 and received the Joseph Lieberman Award for Significant Contributions to Science in 2017.