Epistorm geographical representation grants us access to a wealth of unique perspectives, skills, and regional insights, critical for the modeling and prediction of infectious diseases that do not respect state or regional boundaries. In addition, our consortium is a balanced mix of academic research centers, government laboratories, and private for-profit partners. The consortium has also secured a vital network of public health collaborators, ensuring that our innovations are tested at the frontline of infectious disease outbreaks. This broad-based and inclusive consortium allows us to engage with a wide range of data and tackle questions concerning diverse populations. This capacity amplifies our ability to cater effectively to the unique needs of various communities and regions nationwide.
• New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
• Maine Department of Health and Human Services
• Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
Northeastern University stands at the forefront of this proposal, bringing a unique set of expertise, locations, and collaborative opportunities. Home to three key institutes – the Network Science Institute, the Experiential Artificial Intelligence Institute, and the Roux Institute – the University fosters a synergistic environment for pioneering research at the intersection of public health, artificial intelligence, and modeling. These institutes operate from two distinct campuses located in Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine, extending our reach and impact geographically and in connecting with health organizations in Maine and New Hampshire providing unique diversity of data and populations accessed by the consortium.
BPHC is an STLT partner with access to unique datasets (including sub-city-level hospitalization, death, and wastewater data) and specialized expertise. Additionally, their proven track record of collaboration and innovation in data analytics underscores their capability to contribute to critical, real-world health scenarios.
Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) is ranked among the top ten schools of public health in the US and is home to the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research (CEID) providing recommendations to communities, governments, and academic groups aimed at preparing and responding to pandemics at national and global levels.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center team is a pioneer in the use of mathematical models to provide useful tools for in-silico exploration of the potential impact of intervention strategies, including complex vaccine effects in dynamic models and vaccine evaluation.
Ginkgo Biosecurity is the biosecurity and pathogen monitoring division of Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology company based in Boston, MA. Ginkgo Biosecurity is a leader in developing and deploying new and scalable solutions to detect and characterize existing and emerging pathogens, predict outbreaks, and support the development of response and prevention mechanisms.
The Indiana University School of Public Health team integrates mathematical/computational modeling and data science to establish robust quantitative analytic frameworks for addressing public health challenges. The IU team has extensive experience in developing contact surveys and access to previously and currently gathered data on behavioral data relevant for epidemic modeling.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) team has been working on the development of epidemiological models for nearly 20 years. The team has pioneered disease forecasting applied to the transmission of influenza (in the U.S.), several mosquito-borne diseases (across the Americas continent), and COVID-19 (200 countries and territories).
MaineHealth is the largest integrated health system in northern New England. It has systematically developed resources to support achieving its vision of “working together so that our communities are the healthiest in America”. The MaineHealth team includes a robust Division of Infectious Diseases, including MaineHealth Hospital Epidemiologist and Infection Prevention teams that work collaboratively with Maine CDC.
UCSD has a world-class AI program and is consistently ranked top #5 in the nation. The UCSD team will provide experience in developing physics-guided deep learning for modeling complex spatiotemporal dynamics and research experience in uncertainty quantification and sequential decision-making methods.
The University of Florida team is part of the Center for Statistics and Quantitative Infectious Diseases (CSQUID) and a member of the Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI). The University of Florida team focuses on the mathematical modeling of the transmission and control of infectious diseases and contributed seminal work on pandemic and seasonal influenza dynamics.
The University of Virginia team leverages its expertise in epidemiological modeling to assist local, state, and federal government officials in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their highly detailed agent-based models (ABMs) are distinctive and have demonstrated compatibility with the global epidemic and mobility modeling infrastructure in prior work.