Jane Heffernan


St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School

Graduated 1996

Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at York University

Jane is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at York University, where she leads the modelling infection and immunity laboratory in the Centre for Disease Modelling. She helps address current issues in public health and disease, including influenza, measles, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and B viruses, Herpes Simplex virus, Tuberculosis, vaccination programs and drug therapy protocols.

Jane is a graduate of St. James Catholic School in Colgan and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School. Her post secondary education credentials are impressive. She has an Honours Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science, a Bachelor of Education, a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics and a PhD also in Applied Mathematics.

She won the Governor General’s gold medal for her PhD research as well as the prestigious NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship, which she held with world class researchers in her field. As an associate professor at York University, Jane continues to receive accolades and recognition for her research and leadership in mathematical immunology and epidemiology.

Jane and her husband Derek, who is also a professor at York University, are currently on sabbatical placements at the University of Melbourne, Australia. They travel with their two sons – Perrin and Darcy. In Australia, Jane is working at the School of Global and Population Health.