Alessandro Vespignani

Sternberg Family Distinguished Professor of Physics

Alessandro Vespignani
  • Characterization and modeling of complex networks
  • Modeling the spatial spread of epidemics
  • Resilience of complex networks
  • Collective behavior of techno-social systems
  • PhD in Physics, Sapienza University of Rome — Italy

Alessandro Vespignani is the Sternberg Distinguished University Professor at Northeastern University, based in Boston. He holds interdisciplinary appointments in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, College of Science, and Bouvé College of Health Sciences.

Vespignani researches the interdisciplinary application of statistical and numerical simulation methods in the study of biological, social, and technological networks. For several years, he has worked on the characterization and modeling of complex networks. He now focuses on modeling the spatial spread of epidemics, including the realistic and data-driven computational modeling of emerging infectious diseases, the resilience of complex networks, and the collective behavior of techno-social systems.

Prior to joining Northeastern, Vespignani was the J.H. Rudy Professor of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University. While there, he also served as the director of the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research and the associate director of the Pervasive Technology Institute. Before that, he worked at the International Center for Theoretical Physics at UNESCO in Trieste, and at the University of Paris-Sud as a member of the National Council for Scientific Research.

Vespignani serves on the editorial board of several journals and is editor-in-chief of EPJ Data Science (SpringerOpen). He has served as president of the Complex Systems Society and sits on the board of the Institute for Scientific Interchange Foundation. He is also an elected fellow of the American Physical Society, elected member of the Academy of Europe, and fellow of the Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences at Harvard University.

  • The Parable of Google Flu: Traps in Big Data Analysis

    Citation: Lazer D, Kennedy R, King G, Vespignani A. Big data. The parable of Google Flu: traps in big data analysis. Science. 2014 Mar 14;343(6176):1203-5. DOI: 10.1126/science.1248506

  • Quantifying Uncertainty in Deep Spatiotemporal Forecasting

    Citation: Dongxia Wu, Liyao Gao, Matteo Chinazzi, Xinyue Xiong, Alessandro Vespignani, Yi-An Ma, Rose Yu. (2021). Quantifying Uncertainty in Deep Spatiotemporal Forecasting KDD, 1841-1851. https://doi.org/10.1145/3447548.3467325

  • Anatomy of the first six months of COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Italy

    Citation: Nicolò Gozzi, Matteo Chinazzi, Jessica T. Davis, Kunpeng Mu, Ana L. Pastore y Piontti, Marco Ajelli, Nicola Perra, Alessandro Vespignani. (2022). Anatomy of the first six months of COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Italy PLoS Comput. Biol., 18. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010146

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