Jennifer Havens, Ph.D.

Jennifer Havens is a postdoctoral fellow in the Virus Evolution Lab, applying phylodynamic approaches to study a range of pathogens, including bat influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2, and highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses. Previously, she conducted postdoctoral research at UCLA with Professor Marc Suchard, developing Bayesian phylogeographic models to improve inference of viral geographic spread.

She earned a B.S. in mathematical and computational biology from Harvey Mudd College and a Ph.D. in bioinformatics and systems biology from the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where she was advised by Professor Joel Wertheim. Her thesis, Circulation and Selection of Zoonotic Viral Epidemics, used phylogenetic approaches to investigate the spread and evolution of viral pathogens.