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 14 of 18
Yu-Hong Guo, Sheng-Jie Lai, Xiao-Bo Liu, Gui-Chang Li, Hong-Jie Yu & Qi-Yong Liu,
2016, Acta Tropica, 156, 17-21
Type: article
MengJie Geng, Kamran Khan, Xiang Ren, Marrhew German, Maria Creatore, Liping Wang, Zhongjie Li, Fu Gao, Shengjie Lai & Hongjie Yu,
2016, Chinese Science Bulletin [Ke xue tong bao], 61(9), 1016-1024
Type: article
Zhongjie Li, Qian Zhang, Canjun Zheng, Sheng Zhou, Junling Sun, Zike Zhang, Qibin Geng, Honglong Zhang, Liping Wang, Shengjie Lai, Wenbiao Hu, Archie C.A. Clements, Xiao-Nong Zhou & Weizhong Yang,
2016, Malaria Journal, 15(141), 1-9
Type: article
Andrea E. Gaughan, Forrest R. Stevens, Zhuojie Huang, Jeremiah J. Nieves, Alessandro Sorichetta, Shengjie Lai, Xinyue Ye, Catherine Linard, Graeme M. Hornby, Simon I. Hay, Hongjie Yu & Andrew J. Tatem,
2016, Scientific Data, 3, 1-11
DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2016.5
Type: article
Dinglun Zhou, Weizhong Yang, Qiao Sun, Shengjie Lai, Honglong Zhang, Zhongjie Li, Wei Lyu & Yajia Lan,
2016, Zhonghua Yu Fang Yi Xue Za Zhi [Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine], 50(2), 184-187
Type: article
Ji-Xia Huang, Jin-Feng Wang, Zhong-Jie Li, Yan Wang, Shengjie Lai & Wei-Zhong Yang,
2015, PLoS ONE, 10(11), 1-17
Type: article
Xiaojuan Jiang, Shengjie Lai & Xinfeng Liu,
2015, Chinese Journal of Disease Control & Prevention, 19(7), 659-662
Type: article
Zhongjie Li, Yichao Yang, Ning Xiao, Sheng Zhou, Kangming Lin, Duoquan Wang, Qian Zhang, Weikang Jiang, Mei Li, Xinyu Feng, Jianxin Yu, Xiang Ren, Shengjie Lai, Junling Sun, Zhongliao Fang, Wenbiao Hu, Archie C A Clements, Xiaonong Zhou, Hongjie Yu & Weizhong Yang,
2015, Emerging Infectious Diseases, 21(5), 864-7
DOI: 10.3201/2105.141712
Type: article
Shengjie Lai, Zhuojie Huang, Hang Zhou, Katherine L. Anders, T. Alex Perkins, Wenwu Yin, Yu Li, Di Mu, Qiulan Chen, Zike Zhang, Yanzi Qiu, Liping Wang, Honglong Zhang, Linjia Zeng, Xiang Ren, Mengjie Geng, Zhongjie Li, Andrew J. Tatem, Simon I. Hay & Hongjie Yu,
2015, BMC Medicine, 13, 1-12
Type: article
Jianxing Yu, Huaiqi Jing, Shengjie Lai, Wenbo Xu, Mengfeng Li, Jianguo Wu, Wei Liu, Zhenghong Yuan, Yu Chen, Shiwen Zhao, Xinhua Wang, Zhuo Zhao, Lu Ran, Shuyu Wu, John D. Klena, Luzhao Feng, Fu Li, Xianfei Ye, Yanzi Qiu, Xin Wang, Hongjie Yu, Zhongjie Li & Weizhong Yang,
2015, Journal of Infection, 1-9
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)