2025 – now
Senior Lecturer, Statistics and Actuarial Science
Statistics · Spatial epidemiology
Dr Raeesa Manjoo-Docrat
Senior Lecturer, School of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
I develop statistical methods for understanding how infectious diseases spread through space and time, and use them to inform public health decisions in South Africa and beyond.
I am a Senior Lecturer in Statistics at the University of the Witwatersrand, where I have taught since 2018. My work centres on spatio-stochastic models that capture the spatially uneven way epidemics spread, with applications to COVID-19, tuberculosis and wastewater-based disease surveillance. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in tuberculosis modelling at Johns Hopkins University in 2024.
I am a founding member of SEPIMOD, the Spatial Epidemiological Modelling Group, which brings together Wits, the University of Pretoria, the CSIR, the South African Medical Research Council and IBM. I am also a founding member of the Old Mutual–Wits Risk Lab. I care a great deal about creating inclusive STEM opportunities for South Africans, particularly women, and coordinate mentoring for STEM MentHer.
10 peer-reviewed papers
70 citations
R800k active funding as PI
16 students supervised
Research
Spatio-stochastic models of disease spread
Discrete-time binomial chain models with spatial structure, capturing local transmission, interaction between regions and movement between spatial units.
Spatial epidemiology of COVID-19
Spatially explicit, age-stratified SEIR models that combine mobility data with a vulnerability index reflecting socioeconomic and health disparities, to guide targeted public health responses.
Wastewater-based surveillance
Low-cost, community-level surveillance from wastewater, including methods for spatially misaligned data, early warning and hotspot detection in urban and peri-urban settings.
Tuberculosis in vulnerable populations
Individual-based models of TB in high-risk groups, the effect of COVID-19 disruptions on TB epidemiology, and spatial optimisation of vaccination and resource allocation.
Non-communicable diseases
Spatio-temporal analysis of non-communicable diseases, a new programme funded by IMSA and Investec (2026–2029).
Teaching statistics with R
Evaluating how R is taught across undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, and building open-source tools for spatial epidemiological modelling.
Education and positions
2018 – 2025
Lecturer, Statistics and Actuarial Science
2024
Postdoctoral Fellow, tuberculosis modelling
2022
PhD in Statistics
2018
MSc in Statistics, with distinction
2015
BSc Honours, Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics
2013
Postgraduate Diploma in Statistics and Actuarial Science
2012
BSc in Mathematics
Leadership and service
Founding member
SEPIMOD, the Spatial Epidemiological Modelling Group (Wits, University of Pretoria, CSIR, SAMRC, IBM); Old Mutual–Wits Risk Lab
Mentoring
Mentor Coordinator, STEM MentHer (2025 – now). Co-author of the Indigenising Mentorship framework for African early-career academics (2025).
Service
SASA 2026 Local Organising Committee and Scientific Programme Committee; organiser, ASA DataFest (2025 and 2026); reviewer for Spatial Statistics.
Awards
2025
Wits Early Career Academic Development (ECAD) Programme
2023
Silver Medal, best poster
2021
Mathematical Sciences Early Career Fellowship
2015
Liberty Life Gold Medal
2011
Certificate of First Class
2010
University Entrance Scholarship