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Divine Tito F. Wanduku, Ph.D.

Divine Tito F. Wanduku, Ph.D.

Stochastic & Statistical Modeling of Infectious Diseases

Home Campus: Statesboro
dwanduku@georgiasouthern.edu
912-478-4728

Research Areas

Stochastic and Statistical Modeling of Infectious Diseases

Education

Ph.D. Mathematics (Statistics Concentration) — University of South Florida
M.A. Statistics — University of South Florida
M.Sc. Mathematics — University of Buea, Cameroon
B.Sc. Mathematics (major) & Chemical Process Technology (minor) — University of Buea, Cameroon

Publications

  1. Wanduku, D. & Hasan, M. M. (2025). Compartmental models driven by renewal processes: Survival analysis and applications to SVIS epidemic models. Scientific Reports (Q1, IF ≈ 4.6).
  2. Alsharman, M., Samawi, H., Kersey, J., & Wanduku, D. (2025). On F β-score for medical diagnostic tests of binary diseases: Proposing new measures of accuracy. Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics (Q2, IF ≈ 2.2).
  3. Wanduku, D. T. F., Ladde, G. S., & Ladde, J. G. (2025). Epidemiological Processes in the Biological and Social Sciences: Stochastic Hierarchical Complex Dynamic Network-centric Models. De Gruyter.
  4. Wanduku, D. (2022). Finite- and multi-dimensional state representations for HIV/AIDS models with ART treatment and distributed delays. Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems – S (Q1).
  5. Wanduku, D. (2020). A nonlinear multi-population behavioral model to assess education campaigns, random aid supply, and delayed ART treatment in HIV/AIDS epidemics. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering (Q1).

Funding

Current Grants

  1. NSF RaMP Award – “Mentoring and Research Opportunities for Careers in Coastal Science (MROC²S)†(Coastal Science mentor & research advisor). Period: 1 Sep 2023–31 Aug 2027; award ≈ USD 3 M
  2. Statistical Survey and Design with Elite Systems (Institutional proposal no. 00030734). Role: PI. Period: 15 A³Ü²µâ€¯2025–14 A³Ü²µâ€¯2026.
  3. COSM HHMI IE3 Grant – “Modeling, Analysis and Forecast of COSM Faculty and Student Inclusive Trends†(³¦´Ç‑P±õ). Period: 19 Jul 2024–2025; award ≈ USD 10 k
  4. U.S. Census Bureau Collaborative Agreement (CBHEC‑SOUTH) (Data Science partnership). Status: In progress (FY 2025 onward)

Previous Grants

  1. COSM & JPHCOPH Collaborative Grant – “On F β‑Score for Medical Diagnostics Tests of Binary and Multi‑Class Diseases†(³¦´Ç‑P±õ). Period: 1 Feb 2024–May 2024; award USD 5 k
  2. NSF & other travel grants (2017–2020) – multiple small awards for conference travel.
  3. U.S. Army Research Office Grants – Mathematical Sciences Division Grants in 2010 (Grant #W911NF‑07‑1‑0283) and 2011–2012 (Grant #W911NF‑12‑1‑0090)

Research Projects

Stochastic Renewal Process Models for Epidemic Survival Analysis

This project applies renewal and Markov process theory to construct epidemic models with non-exponential stage durations, capturing realistic biological processes such as variable incubation, recovery, and death rates. The framework bridges survival analysis and biomedical modeling to derive disease persistence criteria and long-term outbreak probabilities.

Statistical Inference and Diagnostic Accuracy for Medical Testing

This project introduces a new family of F β-score measures for binary and multi-class disease tests, addressing imbalanced datasets and clinical decision thresholds. The framework generalizes ROC curve analysis and enhances optimal cut-off selection for disease screening.

Modeling and Statistical Inference for HIV/AIDS and Vector-Borne Diseases

This research develops stochastic models for HIV/AIDS and vector-borne diseases that capture treatment delays and environmental noise, using stochastic differential equations and Lyapunov methods to study disease extinction and persistence.

    Research Group

    Graduate Students

    • Daniel Olofin — M.S. Statistics, Thesis in progress (2026): Stochastic epidemic modeling and data-driven inference.
    • Josphat Wambua — M.S. Statistics, Thesis in progress (2026): Nonlinear time-series modeling for infectious-disease data.
    • Toma Debnath (Chair, 2024) — Ph.D. student, Computational Mathematics, Florida State University; supervised M.S. thesis on statistical learning and diagnostics.
    • Ivy Collins (Chair, 2023) — Ph.D. student, Statistics, University of Georgia; former thesis on COVID-19 stochastic modeling and inference.
    • Md Mahmud Hasan (Chair, 2022) — Ph.D. student, Biostatistics, Medical College of Georgia; developed survival lifetime models for vaccination and disease dynamics.

    Collaborators

    • Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (Çï¿ûÊÓÆµ)
    • BIUST (Botswana)
    • University of South Florida

    Affiliation

    • Affiliate Faculty, James H. Oliver Jr. Institute for Coastal Plain Science (2022–present)