Simon Dellicour
@sdellicour.bsky.social
F.R.S.-FNRS Research Associate at the University of Brussels (Spatial Epidemiology Lab - SpELL, https://spell.ulb.be/) and Visiting Professor at the University of Leuven (Evolutionary & Computational Virology lab, https://rega.kuleuven.be/cev/ecv)
Check out our new study entitled "Navigating sampling bias in discrete phylogeographic analysis: assessing the performance of an adjusted Bayes factor" and now published in Molecular Biology & Evolution: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... (1/9)
November 12, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Check out our new study entitled "Navigating sampling bias in discrete phylogeographic analysis: assessing the performance of an adjusted Bayes factor" and now published in Molecular Biology & Evolution: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... (1/9)
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Gámbaro, @sdellicour.bsky.social et al. use simulations to evaluate an adjusted Bayes factor for discrete phylogeography that accounts for sampling bias, which lowers false positives and improves root inference.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf253
#evobio #molbio #phylogenetics
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf253
#evobio #molbio #phylogenetics
Navigating Sampling Bias in Discrete Phylogeographic Analysis: Assessing the Performance of an Adjusted Bayes Factor
Abstract. Bayesian phylogeographic inference is widely used in molecular epidemiological studies to reconstruct the dispersal history of pathogens. Discret
doi.org
November 4, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Gámbaro, @sdellicour.bsky.social et al. use simulations to evaluate an adjusted Bayes factor for discrete phylogeography that accounts for sampling bias, which lowers false positives and improves root inference.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf253
#evobio #molbio #phylogenetics
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf253
#evobio #molbio #phylogenetics
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Our analysis of modelling practices, data use, and science-policy interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic is out on @eurosurveillance.org this week.
www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...
Wonderful collaborative effort conducted in the context of mood-h2020.eu
Read the thread below 👇
www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...
Wonderful collaborative effort conducted in the context of mood-h2020.eu
Read the thread below 👇
October 24, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Our analysis of modelling practices, data use, and science-policy interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic is out on @eurosurveillance.org this week.
www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...
Wonderful collaborative effort conducted in the context of mood-h2020.eu
Read the thread below 👇
www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...
Wonderful collaborative effort conducted in the context of mood-h2020.eu
Read the thread below 👇
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
In the COVID-19 Omicron surge, #KULeuven combined contact tracing with sequencing.
Only 1/3 of contacts shared the same strain 🤯, so most people misperceived where they got infected.
@thibaut-jonathan.bsky.social and team show how to assess contact tracing accuracy in the future!
#IDSky #EpiSky
Only 1/3 of contacts shared the same strain 🤯, so most people misperceived where they got infected.
@thibaut-jonathan.bsky.social and team show how to assess contact tracing accuracy in the future!
#IDSky #EpiSky
A novel methodology for assessing contact tracing precision: Phylogenetic validation of a contact tracing program for COVID-19 in Belgium
During the COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing was widely used to limit virus propagation and implement targeted disease control measures. It can howev…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM
In the COVID-19 Omicron surge, #KULeuven combined contact tracing with sequencing.
Only 1/3 of contacts shared the same strain 🤯, so most people misperceived where they got infected.
@thibaut-jonathan.bsky.social and team show how to assess contact tracing accuracy in the future!
#IDSky #EpiSky
Only 1/3 of contacts shared the same strain 🤯, so most people misperceived where they got infected.
@thibaut-jonathan.bsky.social and team show how to assess contact tracing accuracy in the future!
#IDSky #EpiSky
Ongoing at the @ulbruxelles.bsky.social: the 4th edition of the Health Geography and Spatial Epidemiology workshop organised by the homonymous FNRS contact group (www.healthgeographygroup.eu)
September 29, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Ongoing at the @ulbruxelles.bsky.social: the 4th edition of the Health Geography and Spatial Epidemiology workshop organised by the homonymous FNRS contact group (www.healthgeographygroup.eu)
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
BEAST X v10.5.0 finally released – you can't just do beta releases forever. github.com/beast-dev/be...
Details and instructions for installing on the BEAST website: beast.community
Details and instructions for installing on the BEAST website: beast.community
July 2, 2025 at 8:32 PM
BEAST X v10.5.0 finally released – you can't just do beta releases forever. github.com/beast-dev/be...
Details and instructions for installing on the BEAST website: beast.community
Details and instructions for installing on the BEAST website: beast.community
Our study on the development and comparative performance of novel landscape phylogeography approaches has now been published in @pnas.org: lnkd.in/d5yuYwk6. A study led at the @ulbruxelles.bsky.social and @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social, and mainly conducted with the support of the F.R.S.-FNRS
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
June 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Our study on the development and comparative performance of novel landscape phylogeography approaches has now been published in @pnas.org: lnkd.in/d5yuYwk6. A study led at the @ulbruxelles.bsky.social and @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social, and mainly conducted with the support of the F.R.S.-FNRS
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Phylogenetic insights into the transmission dynamics of arthropod-borne viruses
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Great work by Verity Hill and team
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Great work by Verity Hill and team
Phylogenetic insights into the transmission dynamics of arthropod-borne viruses - Nature Reviews Genetics
Arthropod-borne viruses have a substantial impact on global health, with climate change and urbanization exacerbating their emergence. Integrating genomic surveillance and phylogenetic models with eco...
www.nature.com
June 10, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Phylogenetic insights into the transmission dynamics of arthropod-borne viruses
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Great work by Verity Hill and team
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Great work by Verity Hill and team
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Interested in using phylogenetics to study arboviruses? Our new review in @natrevgenet.nature.com by @viralverity.bsky.social, @sdellicour.bsky.social, and Marta Giovanetti has you covered!
📖 👉 rdcu.be/epH2U
Short 🧵
📖 👉 rdcu.be/epH2U
Short 🧵
June 9, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Interested in using phylogenetics to study arboviruses? Our new review in @natrevgenet.nature.com by @viralverity.bsky.social, @sdellicour.bsky.social, and Marta Giovanetti has you covered!
📖 👉 rdcu.be/epH2U
Short 🧵
📖 👉 rdcu.be/epH2U
Short 🧵
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Sooo happy to finally have this one published!! (3 years in the making… 👀) A comprehensive investigation into the recency and geographical origins of both SARS-CoVs that spilled to humans in the past few decades, now in @cp-cell.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
The recency and geographical origins of the bat viruses ancestral to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2
Recombination-aware evolutionary analyses of the entire genomes of SARS-CoV-1-like
and SARS-CoV-2-like viruses indicate that SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 descend from bat
coronaviruses that circulated as...
www.cell.com
May 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Sooo happy to finally have this one published!! (3 years in the making… 👀) A comprehensive investigation into the recency and geographical origins of both SARS-CoVs that spilled to humans in the past few decades, now in @cp-cell.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Comparative phylogeography and recombination patterns of SARS CoV-1 and SARS CoV-2 related viruses. Both are derived from recent recombinations in their host bats, and then emerged in human hundreds of miles from their wild reservoirs.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
The recency and geographical origins of the bat viruses ancestral to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2
Recombination-aware evolutionary analyses of the entire genomes of SARS-CoV-1-like
and SARS-CoV-2-like viruses indicate that SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 descend from bat
coronaviruses that circulated as...
www.cell.com
May 7, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Comparative phylogeography and recombination patterns of SARS CoV-1 and SARS CoV-2 related viruses. Both are derived from recent recombinations in their host bats, and then emerged in human hundreds of miles from their wild reservoirs.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
🦇🦠 Nouvelle étude sur l’origine des virus de chauve-souris liés au SRAS et à la COVID-19 : le SARS-CoV-2 serait arrivé à Wuhan trop vite pour avoir été transporté naturellement par des chauves-souris.
👉 bit.ly/4m3Fb4Y
@mariusgilbert.bsky.social @sdellicour.bsky.social
👉 bit.ly/4m3Fb4Y
@mariusgilbert.bsky.social @sdellicour.bsky.social
Nouvelle étude sur l’origine géographique des virus de chauve-souris ancêtres des virus responsables du SRAS et de la COVID-19 - Actualités de l'ULB
bit.ly
May 7, 2025 at 3:56 PM
🦇🦠 Nouvelle étude sur l’origine des virus de chauve-souris liés au SRAS et à la COVID-19 : le SARS-CoV-2 serait arrivé à Wuhan trop vite pour avoir été transporté naturellement par des chauves-souris.
👉 bit.ly/4m3Fb4Y
@mariusgilbert.bsky.social @sdellicour.bsky.social
👉 bit.ly/4m3Fb4Y
@mariusgilbert.bsky.social @sdellicour.bsky.social
Check out our latest study "Comparative performance of novel viral landscape phylogeography approaches", which is now available as a preprint on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... @ulbruxelles.bsky.social @ulbrecherche.bsky.social - 1/8
Comparative performance of novel viral landscape phylogeography approaches
The fast rate of evolution in RNA viruses implies that their evolutionary and ecological processes occur on the same time scale. Genome sequences of these pathogens can therefore contain information a...
www.biorxiv.org
March 28, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Check out our latest study "Comparative performance of novel viral landscape phylogeography approaches", which is now available as a preprint on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... @ulbruxelles.bsky.social @ulbrecherche.bsky.social - 1/8
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
📢 New paper out! 🦆
Our latest study on HPAI in France and risk mapping has just been published doi.org/10.1371/jour...
@epidesa.bsky.social @inrae-france.bsky.social @anses-fr.bsky.social ENVT ULB
Our latest study on HPAI in France and risk mapping has just been published doi.org/10.1371/jour...
@epidesa.bsky.social @inrae-france.bsky.social @anses-fr.bsky.social ENVT ULB
Spatial risk modelling of highly pathogenic avian influenza in France: Fattening duck farm activity matters
In this study, we present a comprehensive analysis of the key spatial risk factors and predictive risk maps for HPAI infection in France, with a focus on the 2016–17 and 2020–21 epidemic waves. Our fi...
doi.org
February 5, 2025 at 8:15 AM
📢 New paper out! 🦆
Our latest study on HPAI in France and risk mapping has just been published doi.org/10.1371/jour...
@epidesa.bsky.social @inrae-france.bsky.social @anses-fr.bsky.social ENVT ULB
Our latest study on HPAI in France and risk mapping has just been published doi.org/10.1371/jour...
@epidesa.bsky.social @inrae-france.bsky.social @anses-fr.bsky.social ENVT ULB
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Lecture essentielle pour comprendre ce qui est occupé à se passer dans l'administration américaine.
Il est important de documenter ce qu'il se passe, et ce long article du New York Times rassemble beaucoup d'informations. La mainmise de Musk sur le gouvernement américain est effarante
Elon Musk’s Blitz Shakes U.S. Government as He Sweeps Through Agencies (Gift Article)
The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies, in what has been an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Lecture essentielle pour comprendre ce qui est occupé à se passer dans l'administration américaine.
How fast are viruses spreading in the wild? Check out our latest study now published in @plosbiology.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1371/jour.... A study performed with Paul Bastide, Pauline Rocu, Denis Fargette, Olivier Hardy, @msuchard.bsky.social, @stephaneguindon.bsky.social, and Philippe Lemey (1/7)
December 4, 2024 at 8:49 AM
How fast are viruses spreading in the wild? Check out our latest study now published in @plosbiology.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1371/jour.... A study performed with Paul Bastide, Pauline Rocu, Denis Fargette, Olivier Hardy, @msuchard.bsky.social, @stephaneguindon.bsky.social, and Philippe Lemey (1/7)
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Modeling the velocity of evolving lineages and predicting dispersal patterns
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org
December 2, 2024 at 9:43 AM
Modeling the velocity of evolving lineages and predicting dispersal patterns
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
This is a brilliant article from @helenbranswell.bsky.social about H5N1 that I think everyone should read, but I’m a bit worried that people may have the wrong takeaway despite its thoroughness:
www.statnews.com/2024/12/02/b...
www.statnews.com/2024/12/02/b...
Scientists confront a mystery: Why have U.S. bird flu cases been so mild?
The H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the U.S. has so far been shockingly mild. Researchers have some theories as to why.
www.statnews.com
December 2, 2024 at 5:14 PM
This is a brilliant article from @helenbranswell.bsky.social about H5N1 that I think everyone should read, but I’m a bit worried that people may have the wrong takeaway despite its thoroughness:
www.statnews.com/2024/12/02/b...
www.statnews.com/2024/12/02/b...
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
I spoke to @mscribe.bsky.social @theguardian.com about the H5N1 case in BC.
More and more human cases are occurring, along with mutations that indicate further human adaptation.
We need to treat these cases like a warning, because that is what they are.
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
More and more human cases are occurring, along with mutations that indicate further human adaptation.
We need to treat these cases like a warning, because that is what they are.
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
Bird flu in Canada may have mutated to become more transmissible to humans
Scientists are racing to understand what a hospitalized teen’s case of bird flu may mean for future outbreaks
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2024 at 7:11 PM
I spoke to @mscribe.bsky.social @theguardian.com about the H5N1 case in BC.
More and more human cases are occurring, along with mutations that indicate further human adaptation.
We need to treat these cases like a warning, because that is what they are.
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
More and more human cases are occurring, along with mutations that indicate further human adaptation.
We need to treat these cases like a warning, because that is what they are.
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
Another opportunity to come work @universityofoxford.bsky.social on the @oxmartinschool.bsky.social project on *Digital Pandemic Preparedness* together with Profs. Christl Donnelly, Christophe Fraser, Melinda Mills, Michael Parker, Luca Ferretti and me.
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Digital Pandemic Preparedness
This programme will develop a blueprint for digital health systems that can be deployed during pandemics, create a funding model for implementation, and…
www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk
November 18, 2024 at 4:01 PM
Another opportunity to come work @universityofoxford.bsky.social on the @oxmartinschool.bsky.social project on *Digital Pandemic Preparedness* together with Profs. Christl Donnelly, Christophe Fraser, Melinda Mills, Michael Parker, Luca Ferretti and me.
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Reposted by Simon Dellicour
The preliminary sequence from the H5N1 human case in British Columbia has been posted and it is not good news. The virus potentially has a quasispecies at HA residue 226 (H3 numbering). This is bad news because we know that mutations at residue 226 can increase binding to human receptors. 1/
November 16, 2024 at 3:19 PM
The preliminary sequence from the H5N1 human case in British Columbia has been posted and it is not good news. The virus potentially has a quasispecies at HA residue 226 (H3 numbering). This is bad news because we know that mutations at residue 226 can increase binding to human receptors. 1/
[Job offer, a 4-year PhD student position at the
@ulbruxelles.bsky.social] Please share, with Claire Guinat we are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to work under our co-supervision within the VIVACE Doctoral Network (1/5)
@ulbruxelles.bsky.social] Please share, with Claire Guinat we are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to work under our co-supervision within the VIVACE Doctoral Network (1/5)
November 4, 2024 at 9:23 AM
[Job offer, a 4-year PhD student position at the
@ulbruxelles.bsky.social] Please share, with Claire Guinat we are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to work under our co-supervision within the VIVACE Doctoral Network (1/5)
@ulbruxelles.bsky.social] Please share, with Claire Guinat we are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to work under our co-supervision within the VIVACE Doctoral Network (1/5)
Nice "news & views" piece in Nature referring to and coming back on our recent study dedicated to the decline of European bumblebee populations: www.nature.com/articles/d41....
April 9, 2024 at 3:58 PM
Nice "news & views" piece in Nature referring to and coming back on our recent study dedicated to the decline of European bumblebee populations: www.nature.com/articles/d41....