Ernst Schäfer is a mathematical modeller working as a postdoctoral researcher at the AIGHD. After obtaining double bachelor and double master degrees in mathematics and physics at the University of Amsterdam he obtained a PhD in mathematical biology from the University of Nottingham. As a postdoctoral researcher he has worked for the Pennsylvania State University, studying how crop root systems impact nutrient and water uptake and plant growth under suboptimal conditions using the OpenSimRoot simulation model, which he extended with new functionality.

As part of the MAGIcIAN project, Ernst is currently using multi-scale modelling to simulate the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. A new antibiotic for the treatment of gonorrhoea, zoliflodacin, has recently passed phase 3 trials. Through this research, we hope to understand how a new antibiotic such as zoliflodacin could be introduced sustainably, lowering the disease burden without the rapid emergence of resistance. Another aim is to determine how a limited surveillance capacity can be used most efficiently to detect the emergence of resistance at an early stage.