Dr. Yanfang (Fanny) Ye, Theodore L. and Dana J. Schroeder Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation in support of her work to develop a data-driven and AI-augmented framework for collaborative decision making to combat infectious disease outbreaks. The award comes with $1.2M dollars in funding over a four-year period.
Dr. Ye, an ISSACS Faculty Associate, serves as the Principle Investigator (PI). ISSACS Faculty Director Dr. Kenneth Loparo (Arthur L. Parker Professor, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering) is a co-PI, along with Dr. Lee Hoffer (Associate Professor, Anthropology) and Dr. Daniel Shoag (Associate Professor, Economics).
The research team led by Dr. Ye will tackle the problem of finding optimal non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that balance epidemiological benefits and socioeconomic costs in the face of infectious disease outbreaks such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The team plans to leverage advancing capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and a multidisciplinary approach to design and develop a data-driven and AI-augmented framework that will take into account evolving localized conditions and allow expert-in-the loop adaptive NPIs to enable achievement of this balance.
Details about the proposed research components and expected outcomes can be found in Award Abstract #2107172 at NSF.gov.