Elina Numminen (Roto)
Tohtorikoulutettava
Doktorant
Doctoral student
Research
I am interested in statistical model-based analysis and model-selection problems. In many fields of science, mathematical models are built to describe some observed phenomena in nature. With clever inference techniques, models can be fitted to the observed data. There's only a big complication involved; assessing the degree of belief in each alternative model is not straightforward, yet this often might be the question of the fundamental interest - learning about the real world processes that generated the data.
I am currently working on approximate bayesian computation, which allows bayesian inference in presence of intractable likelihood functions. This enables inference with more and more complex models and data, and therefore it makes the issues of model choice and criticism ever more important. I am interested in different kinds of applications of this 'ABC' and also developing the ABC-methodology further.
So far, I've been applying these methods in the field of epidemiology. I studied the transmission dynamics of commensal pathogen streptococcus pneumonia in a population of children that attend day-care-centres. This reflects my other main research interest: modelling and inferring the evolutionary- and transmission dynamics of pathogens. | 
