Ricardo Castillo, PhD DVM MSPH

Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Department: Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics
423 Guardian Dr.
Blockley Hall, Rm.715
Philadelphia, PA 19104
423 Guardian Dr.
Blockley Hall, Rm.715
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 2157467333
Email:
cricardo@upenn.edu
cricardo@upenn.edu
Publications
Links
Search PubMed for articles
Public Health Certificate Program
Departement of Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Informatics
Center for Global Health at University of Pennsylvania
Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics
Search PubMed for articles
Public Health Certificate Program
Departement of Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Informatics
Center for Global Health at University of Pennsylvania
Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics
Education:
BSc (Veterinary Medicine)
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, 2006.
DVM (Veterinary Medicine)
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, 2007.
PhD (Epidemiology)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2014.
MSPH (International Health)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2014.
Permanent linkBSc (Veterinary Medicine)
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, 2006.
DVM (Veterinary Medicine)
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, 2007.
PhD (Epidemiology)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2014.
MSPH (International Health)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2014.
Description of Research Expertise
I study the eco-epidemiology of tropical diseases. My current research uses canine rabies as a model system to understand how the social and spatial features of urban areas influence the emergence and persistence of infectious diseases.My most recent line of research focuses on urban vaccine-preventable outbreaks. I conduct cluster randomized trials to test optimized mass vaccination strategies. My methodological interests include spatial analysis, optimization of interventions to control infectious disease, and design of community-based studies.
I am a scholar of infectious disease epidemiology with a strong background in quantitative methods, zoonotic disease ecology, and the study of complex systems. I am committed to teaching and research in public health, infectious disease, and epidemiological methods. I am well-versed in designing and conducting observational and experimental community-based studies, as well as laboratory-based research. I have strong data management and analysis skills; and experience with a variety of data sources.
Selected Publications
Elvis W. Diaz, Stephanie Sila, Brinkley Bellotti Raynor, Micaela De la Puente-León, Michael Z. Levy, Ricardo Castillo-Neyra: Highly Dynamic Population of Owned Dogs and Implications for Zoonosis Control BioRxiv Apr 2025.Sherrie Xie, Julianna Shinnick, Elvis W. Diaz, Edith Zegarra, Ynes Monroy, Sergio E. Recuenco, Ricardo Castillo-Neyra: Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Dog-Mediated Rabies: Disparities in Incidence and Surveillance Effort in a Latin American City. MedRxiv Apr 2025.
Renzo Salazar, Kirstyn Brunker, Elvis W Díaz, Edith Zegarra, Ynes Monroy, Gorky N Baldarrago, Katty Borrini-Mayorí, Micaela De la Puente-León, Natasha Palmalux, Jenna Nichols, Sandeep Kasaragod, Michael Z Levy, Katie Hampson, Ricardo Castillo-Neyra: Genomic characterization of a dog-mediated rabies outbreak in El Pedregal, Arequipa, Peru. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 19(3), March 2025.
Bellotti BR, Díaz EW, De la Puente-León M, Rieders MT, Recuenco SE, Levy MZ, Castillo-Neyra R.: Challenging a paradigm: Staggered versus single-pulse mass dog vaccination strategy for rabies elimination PLoS Comput Biol. 21(7): e1012780, February 2025.
Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, Lizzie Ortiz-Cam, Jorge L. Cañari-Casaño, Elvis W. Diaz, Laura D. Tamayo, Guillermo Porras, Sergio E. Recuenco, Valerie A. Paz-Soldan: An Implementation Science Framework to Understand Low Coverage in Mass Dog Rabies Vaccination. MedRxiv Feb 2025.
Tania De la Cruz-Saldana, Javier A. Bustos, Maria P. Requena-Herrera, Nelson Martinez-Merizalde, Lizzie Ortiz-Cam, Ana Lucía Cáceres, Carolina Guzman, Cesar M. Gavidia, Cesar Ugarte-Gil, Ricardo Castillo-Neyra: A scoping review on control strategies for Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato. MedRxiv Jan 2025 Notes: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.21.24312335.
Xie S, Rieders M, Changolkar S, Bhattacharya BB, Diaz EW, Levy MZ, Castillo-Neyra R: Enhancing mass vaccination programs with queueing theory and spatial optimization Front Public Health(12), 1440673, December 2024
Castillo-Neyra R, Díaz EW, Ortiz-Cam L, Porras G, De La Puente-León M, Condori GF, Chuquista-Alcarraz O, Recuenco SE, Tamayo LD, Buttenheim AM, Paz-Soldan VA. : Human-Centered Design to Respond to Public Health Crises: Maintaining Canine Rabies Vaccination during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Peru Am J Trop Med Hyg. 112(2): 377-385, November 2024.
Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, Sherrie Xie, Brinkley Raynor Bellotti, Elvis W. Diaz, Aris Saxena, Amparo M. Toledo, Gian Franco Condori-Luna, Maria Rieders, Bhaswar B. Bhattacharya & Michael Z. Levy: Optimizing the location of vaccination sites to stop a zoonotic epidemic. Scientific Reports July 2024.
Raquel Gonçalves, Kathryn P Hacker, Carlos Condori, Sherrie Xie, Katty Borrini-Mayori, Lina Mollesaca Riveros, Roger Quispe Apaza, Manuel Ysidro Arratea, Gustavo Nativio, Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, Valerie A Paz-Soldan, Michael Z Levy: Irrigation, migration and infestation: a case study of Chagas disease vectors and bed bugs in El Pedregal, Peru. Mem Inst Oswald Cruz June 2024.