International Collaborative Workshop on Modeling Dynamics, Statistical Inference, and Prediction of Tropical Infectious diseases in India

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the project is to support the participation of US faculty, graduate and undergraduate students in the first international workshop "Indo - U.S. Workshop on Modeling Dynamics, Statistical Inference and Prediction of Infectious diseases (MoDSIP-ID)". The workshop will be held at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL), Vidya Giri, Prashanti, Nilayam, Puttaparthi, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India from August 12-14, 2018. This workshop, supported in part by the NSF Mathematical Biology program, focuses on mathematical modeling and analysis of public health problems from the developing world and is jointly organized by US and Inidan researchers. The award provides support for US faculty, graduate and undergraduate students to travel to India, participate and present at this workshop and as well as to train and mentor participants. The focus of 2018 MoDSIP workshop is on training undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty outside mathematical biology on analytical and computational techniques (including deterministic and stochastic modeling theory, statistical inference, uncertainty quantification methods, data mining tools and high performance computing techniques). The workshop will provide a platform to encourage discussion, identify new linkages and foster new international collaborations, advancing mathematical modeling of infectious tropical diseases in India across multiple biological scales. MoDSIP-ID is the first workshop in an annual series to promote international (US and India) scientific collaborations and bring together students and researchers working at the interface of mathematics, statistics, ecology, epidemiology, public health and computational science. This event will identify linkages among population dynamics of tropical infectious disease systems at different scales, from individuals to ecosystems, and provide the opportunity to discuss and share some of the successful mathematical, computational, and statistical approaches in modeling these systems and data. MoDSIP will host approximately 80-100 participants from USA, India and other developing countries. This workshop will invite participation from women and underrepresented minorities and encourage them to consider pursuing careers that bridge mathematics and biology. MoDSIP will cover topics in three different scientific dimensions: mathematical (stochastic processes, dynamical systems, parameter estimation, computational modeling, and uncertainty analysis), interdisciplinary (ecology, epidemiology, infectious diseases), and educational (research methodology, mentoring, professionalism, team building) via theoretical and hands-on experience. The interdisciplinary workshop program will include educational training and research methodology for infectious diseases; computational labs focusing on challenges in gathering empirical information, statistical data analysis and, modeling, and simulations of infectious diseases. All participants will engage in interactive lectures from faculty and graduate students along with hands-on lab sessions using R, Matlab, Python, and Netlogo. More information can be found at the https://mcmsc.asu.edu/ and http://sssihl.edu.in/ websites. Dissemination of workshop results and participant research will occur in a Special Issue of the Letters in Biomathematics. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.