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Dr Penelope Hancock

  
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Contact Details

Dr  Penelope  Hancock

Visiting Researcher

Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 2379

p.hancock@imperial.ac.uk
 

Penny Hancock

p.hancock@imperial.ac.uk

Research Interests

In general, my research interests lie analysing spatial and temporal dynamics of wildlife populations.  I have used modelling and mathematics to investigate spatial processes such as climate and ungulate migration.  Currently I am analysing the effect of mosquito control strategies on malaria transmission, as part of a CPB joint research project on the control of mosquito vectors of malaria. 

Current Project: Modelling novel strategies for controlling vectors of disease

Bat 

Mosquito life cycles feature discrete stages, including egg, larval, and pupal stages before emergence to the adult stage.  The timing of these stages has an important effect on mosquito population dynamics, and demographic rates also differ between stages.  Gonotrophic processes are also an important feature of mosquito population dynamics and include feeding, then maturation and oviposition following a blood meal, after which the cycle begins again. 

In this project, we use age-structured models to explore the effect of the natural time lags in the mosquito life cycle, as well as time-varying demographic rates, on mosquito population dynamics.  Epidemiological aspects are considered, via modelling interactions between the mosquito life cycle, Plasmodium, and the human population.  These models will be used to understand and predict the response of mosquito populations to various malaria control strategies, including fungal entomopathogen sprays and introduction of genetically modified mosquitoes.

Others working on this or related projects are:
Anne Deredec
Charles Godfray (Oxford)
Austin Burt

Selected Publications

  • Hancock, P.A., Sinkins, S.P. and Godfray, H.C.J. (2011), Strategies for introducing Wolbachia to reduce transmission of mosquito-borne diseases, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases., 5(4). [article]
  • Hancock, P.A., Brackley, R. and Palmer, S.C.F., 2011, Modelling the effect of temperature variation on the seasonal dynamics of Ixodes ricinus tick populations, International Journal for Parasitology, 513-522.
  • Hancock, P.A., Sinkins, S.P. and Godfray, H.C.J. 2011, Population dynamic models of the spread of Wolbachia, American Naturalist, 77(3), 323-333.
  • Hancock, P.A. 2009, Combining fungal biopesticides and insecticide-treated bednets to enhance malaria control, PLoS Computational Biology, e1000525. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000525 [article]
  • Hancock, P.A, Thomas, M.B.T. and Godfray, H.C.J. 2009, An age-structured model to evaluate the potential of novel malaria control interventions using fungal entomopathogen sprays, Proc. Roy. Soc. B, 276,71-80.
  • Hancock, P.A. and Godfray, H.C.J. (2007) Application of the lumped age-class technique to studying the dynamics of malaria-mosquito-human interactions, Malaria Journal, 6:98.[article]
  • Hancock, P.A. and Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2006) Optimal movement strategies for social foragers in unpredictable environments, Ecology, 87(8), 2094-2102.
  • Hancock, P.A., Milner-Gulland, E.J. and Keeling, M.J. (2006) Modelling the many wrongs principle: the navigational advantages of aggregation in nomadic foragers, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 240(2), 302-310.
  • Hancock, P.A. and Hutchinson, M.F. (2006) Automatic computation of hierarchial biquadratic smoothing splines with minimum GCV, Computers and Geosciences, 32(6), 834-845.
  • Hancock, P.A. and Hutchinson, M.F. (2006) Spatial Interpolation of large climate data sets using thin plate smoothing splines, Environmental Modelling and Software, 21(12), 1684-1694.
  • Hancock, P.A., Milner-Gulland, E.J., Keeling, M. (2005) An individual-based model of bearded pig population abundance. Ecological Modelling 181, 123-137.
  • Hancock, P.A. and Hutchinson, M.F (2003), An iterative procedure for calculating minimum generalised cross validation smoothing splines, ANZIAM (Australian and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics) Journal 44(C), 290-312.
  • Hancock, P.A., Hutchinson, M.F., Turton, S.M. and Lewis, A.L. (2001), Thin plate smoothing spline interpolation of long term monthly mean rainfall for the Wet Tropics region of north-eastern Australia, Proceedings of the International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM 2001) 2, 943 - 948.
  • Turton, S.M., Hutchinson, M.F., Accad, A., Hancock, P.A. and Webb, T. (1999) Producing fine-scale rainfall climatology surfaces for Queensland’s wet tropics region. In: Geodiversity: Readings in Australian Geography at the close of the 20th Century. (Eds. J.A. Kesby, J.M. Stanley, R.F. McLean & L.J. Olive), Special Publication Series No. 6, Canberra, ACT, School of Geography and Oceanography, University College, ADFA, 415-428.

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