About
Lai has long been engaged in interdisciplinary research focusing on human behaviour, population dynamics, environmental changes, and infectious disease transmission and interventions. He has published ~200 book chapters and peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals, including Nature, Science, Lancet Infectious Diseases, Nature Medicine, Nature Human Behaviour, BMJ, and Nature Communications.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Lai is interested in understanding the transmission dynamics and intervention effectiveness for infectious diseases; Quantifying seasonal human mobility, social connectivity and migration using novel data sources, e.g. mobile phone data; Investigating spatiotemporal interactions between human behaviour, environmental change and infectious disease dynamics.
Current research
Funded by several national and international funders, as PI/project lead/Co-I in Southampton, his research focuses on spatial demography and spatial epidemiology to model human population dynamics and reveal transmission risk of infectious diseases under environmental changes. Projects in the past five years:
- Machine learning for blue line tracing and wastewater surveillance, Gates Foundation, 2025-2026
- Mapping the risk of Guinea worm disease at a high resolution using geospatial and machine learning approaches, the Carter Centre, 2024-2026
- The fear of 'here': Integrating place-based travel behaviour and detection into novel infectious disease models, National Science Foundation, 2023-2026
- Giving Rural Actors Novel data and re-Useable tools to Lead public Action in Rural area (GRANULAR), Horizon Europe Guarantee (UKRI), 2022-2026
- Human mobility models to forecast disease dynamics and the effectiveness of public health interventions, National Institute for Health (NIH), 2021-2026
- Exploring the seasonality of COVID-19, Gates Foundation, 2021-2022
- MOnitoring Outbreak events for Disease surveillance in a data science context (MOOD), EU Horizon, 2020-2024
- Quantifying Dengue Importation Risk from Southeast Asia and Environmental Suitability of Secondary Transmission in China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2018-2021
Research projects
Active projects
Researchers:
Completed projects
Researchers:
Sponsor: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Publications
175 publications
Page 1 of 18
Xin Lu, Jiawei Feng, Shengjie Lai, Petter Holme, Shuo Liu, Zhanwei Du, Xiaoqian Yuan, Siqing Wang, Yunxuan Li, Xiaoyu Zhang, Yuan Bai, Xiaojun Duan, Wenjun Mei, Hongjie Yu, Suoyi Tan & Fredrik Liljeros,
2025, Physics Reports, 1157, 1-45
Type: review
Esther van Kleef, Wim Van Bortel, Elena Arsevska, Luca Busani, Simon Dellicour, Laura Di Domenico, Marius Gilbert, Sabine L. van Elsland, Moritz Ug Kraemer, Shengjie Lai, Philippe Lemey, Stefano Merler, Zoran Milosavljevic, Annapaola Rizzoli, Danijela Simic, Andrew J. Tatem, Maguelonne Teisseire, William Wint, Vittoria Colizza & Chiara Poletto,
2025, Eurosurveillance, 30(42)
Type: article
Natalya Kostandova, Ronan Corgel, Shweta Bansal, Sophie Bérubé, Eimear Cleary, Chelsea Hansen, Matt d. t. Hitchings, Bernardo García-Carreras, Lauren Gardner, Moritz u. g. Kraemer, Shengjie Lai, Yao Li, Amanda c. Perofsky, Giulia Pullano, Jonathan m. Read, Gabriel Ribeiro dos santos, Henrik Salje, Saki Takahashi, Cécile Viboud, Jasmine Wang, Derek A.T. Cummings & Amy Wesolowski,
2025, Nature Human Behaviour, 9(7), 1309-1312
Type: letterEditorial
Natalya Kostandova, Christine Prosperi, Simon Mutembo, Chola Nakazwe, Harriet Namukoko, Bertha Nachinga, Shengjie Lai, Andrew J Tatem, Qianwen Duan, Elliot N Kabalo, Kabondo Makungo, Gershom Chongwe, Innocent Chilumba, Gloria Musukwa, Kalumbu H Matakala, Mutinta Hamahuwa, Webster Mufwambi, Japhet Matoba, Irene Mutale, Kenny Situtu, Edgar Simulundu, Phillimon Ndubani, Alvira Z Hasan, Shaun A Truelove, Amy K Winter, Andrea C Carcelen, Bryan Lau, William J Moss & Amy Wesolowski,
2025, PLOS Global Public Health, 5(5), e0003906
Type: article
Eimear Cleary, Fatumah Atuhaire, Alessandro Sorichetta, Nick Ruktanonchai, Cori Ruktanonchai, Alexander Cunningham, Massimiliano Pasqui, Marcello Schiavina, Michele Melchiorri, Maksym Bondarenko, Harry E.R. Shepherd, Sabu S. Padmadas, Amy Wesolowski, Derek A.T. Cummings, Andrew J. Tatem & Shengjie Lai,
2025, PLOS Global Public Health, 5(4)
Type: article
Xiaobo Liu, Pi Guo, Ying Liang, Chuanwei Chen, Jince Sun, Haisheng Wu, Tianyun Su, Shengjie Lai & Qiyong Liu,
2025, BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 389, e080658
Type: article
Qiyong Liu, Yiguan Wang, Xiaobo Liu, Simon I. Hay & Shengjie Lai,
2025, BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 389, e080656
Type: article
Wei Luo, Zhihao Liu, Yiding Ran, Mengqi Li, Yuxuan Zhou, Weitao Hou, Shengjie Lai, Sabrina L. Li & Ling Yin,
2025, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 19(4), e0012096
Type: article
Hal E. Voepel, Shengjie Lai, Jessica Steele, Alexander Cunningham, Grant Rogers, Corrine Ruktanonchai, Nick Ruktanonchai, C. Utazi, Alessandro Sorichetta & Andrew Tatem,
2025
Type: other
Natalya Kostandova, Catherine Schluth, Rohan Arambepola, Fatumah Atuhaire, Sophie Bérubé, Taylor Chin, Eimear Cleary, Oscar Cortes-Azuero, Bernardo García-Carreras, Kyra H. Grantz, Matt D.T. Hitchings, Angkana T. Huang, Nishant Kishore, Shengjie Lai, Sophie L. Larsen, Stacie Loisate, Pamela Martinez, Hannah R. Meredith, Ritika Purbey, Tanjona Ramiadantsoa, Jonathan Read, Benjamin L. Rice, Lori Rosman, Nick Ruktanonchai, Henrik Salje, Kathryn L. Schaber, Andrew J. Tatem, Jasmine Wang, Derek A T Cummings & Amy Wesolowski,
2024, Nature Communications, 15(1)
Type: article
External roles and responsibilities
Name:
Frontiers in Epidemiology (Journal)
Role:
Member of editorial board
Year:
2021
Name:
International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (Journal)
Role:
Editor
Year:
2021 - 2022
Name:
Infectious Diseases of Poverty (Journal)
Role:
Member of editorial board
Year:
2021 - 2025
Name:
Mobility modelling for displacement, migration and COVID-19 using mobile phone data
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2022
Name:
Presentation for the Session: Migration in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2021
Name:
Using phylogeographical model and mobility data to understand the spread of variants in COVID-19 resurgence, in the session of Environment and Health Research
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2021
Name:
Presenting in the session of GIScience-Informed Evaluations of COVID-19 Policy Responses
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2021
Name:
Infectious Diseases of Poverty journal - 4th online webinar (IDEA Forum)
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2021
Name:
Invited presentation in the session of Tropical Disease Situation in GMS and the Impact of COVID-19
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2020
Name:
Assessing the effects of travel and contact reductions to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and resurgence
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2020
Name:
External examiner to examine a PhD thesis
Role:
Examiner
Year:
2020
Name:
Invited presentation for the Session: Big Data and Epidemics Response
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2020
Name:
Invited presentation in the Session: Data innovation for early warning and understanding of displacement and internal mobility
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2020
Name:
Invited talk in the Session of Ecosystem change, climate-sensitive disease, early warning and climate services
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2019
Name:
Oral and poster presentations of international travel, internal migration and disease transmission
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2019
Name:
Invited talk of the impact of seasonal population movements on mosquito-borne diseases transmission.
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2019
Name:
Presenting how population movement could be estimated to help in determining the denominator at different administrative levels
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2019
Name:
Presenting how to use mobile phone data for measuring internal migration
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2019
Name:
Invited talk of The use of mobile phone data for tourism and migration statistics
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2019
Name:
Invited presentation of exploring the use of mobile phone data for national migration statistics
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2019
Name:
Presentation of mapping population and mosquito-borne disease connectivity
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2018
Name:
Field trip of malaria surveillance and invited presentation of mapping human movements and malaria connectivity
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2018
Name:
Presenting the methodology for estimating importation and onward transmission risks of mosquito-borne diseases via air travellers
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2018
Name:
Invited talk of Modelling the spreading risk and intervention effectiveness for infectious diseases
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2022
Name:
Invited talk on Measuring human mobility, COVID-19 spread risk and intervention effectiveness
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2021
Name:
Invited talk of Measuring human mobility, COVID-19 spread risk and intervention effectiveness
Role:
Speaker
Year:
2021
Biography
Prizes
- 2021 Vice-Chancellor's Awards - Early Career (2021)
- Dean’s Prize for Research (2019)
- Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed (non-government sponsored) Students Abroad (2017)
- 2nd prize of 2016 Medical Science and Technology Award of China (2017)
- 3rd prize of 2016 Medical Science and Technology Award of China (2017)
- 2nd prize of 2016 Science and Technology Progress Award of Beijing (2016)
- 2nd prize of 2016 Science and Technology Progress Award of Beijing (2016)
- 2nd prize of 2022 Science and Technology Progress Award, Ministry of Education of P.R. China (2023)
- 2021 Vice-Chancellor's Awards - Early Career (2021)
- Dean’s Prize for Research (2019)
- Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed (non-government sponsored) Students Abroad (2017)
- 2nd prize of 2016 Medical Science and Technology Award of China (2017)
- 3rd prize of 2016 Medical Science and Technology Award of China (2017)
- 2nd prize of 2016 Science and Technology Progress Award of Beijing (2016)
- 2nd prize of 2016 Science and Technology Progress Award of Beijing (2016)
- 2nd prize of 2022 Science and Technology Progress Award, Ministry of Education of P.R. China (2023)