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Environmental Informatics and OneHealth:
important venues to consider
Elena N. Naumova
Tufts University School of Engineering, Medford MA USATELI May 21, 2013
InForMID -Tufts Initiative for the Forecasting and Modeling of Infectious Diseases
Important venues to consider
New disciplines:One Health, Environmental Informatics
New Information technologies:GIS, Remote Sensing
New environmental challenges: Climate change, complex emergencies
Inter-disciplinarity is a common theme inresearch, practice, decision making
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Global (One)Health Surveillance
Serves one of the most essential functions in global health
Provides real-time information about potential outbreaks and epidemics of (re)emerging infections at the global scale
Initiates as a loose framework of formal, informal ad ad-hoc arrangements characterized as a network of networks to disseminate relevant information
Transformed in a last decade by a more systematic mechanisms to investigate, assess and declare when and where there is a new public health emergency of international concerns is emerging for dissemination information
Measures of (One)Health
Specificity/Sensitivity Population Coverage
The main issues are Completeness Compatibility Convertibility Accessibility
Epidemiological Cohorts
Hospitalization Records
Regional Registries
Surveillance Systems
Mortality Databases
Meta-Analysis GIS-driven dynamic mapping
Time Series Analysis
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Data Dilemma: too little or too much?
… no published data… … very little is known…… sparse evidence…
… data explosion… … massive databases…… data mining…
Convert data into useful information!
Supercomputing and visual analytics
Data Presentation• Comprehension
Sharing
Milestones of evidence-based research
Data Collection• Availability
Access
Data Validation• Completeness
Quality
Data Analysis• Complexity Interpretability
Smart SensorsSmart DevisesRemote Sensing
StorageProcessing & Visualization
Milestones of evidence-based tracking of health
Environmental informatics (EI)
EI provides methodology for information processing and the development of communication infrastructure aiming at data, information and knowledge integration, the application of computational intelligence to environmental data.
EI is the "research and system development focusing on the environmental sciences relating to the creation, collection, storage, processing, modeling, interpretation, display and dissemination of data and information.”
When it rains, it pours
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going." - Joseph Kennedy
Complex Emergencies
Scarce resourcesLimited monitoringDifficult terrain
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
EV
EN
T
Immediate Response
Delayed Responses
Remote Sensing for Disaster Management
Land cover
NDVI – 8 km resolution
Pretoria, Malawi
September
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NDVI
NDVI
Blantyre, Malawi
September October
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1
NDVI
NDVI
Blantyre, Malawi
September October November
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NDVI
Blantyre, Malawi
September October November December
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1
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NDVI
Blantyre, Malawi
September October November December January
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1
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NDVI
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September October November December January February
NDVI
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1NDVI
Blantyre, Malawi
September October November December January February
March
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1
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September October November December January February
AprilMarch
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September October November December January February
MayAprilMarch
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1
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Blantyre, Malawi
MayAprilMarch June
September October November December January February
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1
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NDVI
Blantyre, Malawi
September October November December January February
JulyJuneMayAprilMarch
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1
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NDVI
Blantyre, Malawi
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AugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarch
September October November December January February
1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1
NDVI
NDVI
Blantyre, Malawi
Monthly dataMean
Pretoria, South Africa
MathematicsBiostatisticsBioinformatics
DevicesSensors
Experimental Platforms
EpidemiologyPublic Health
OneHealthEcoHealth
GISDynamic MappingRemote SensingVisualization
Research Collaborations
What we can do better?
Plan for better data collection in complex emergencies
Focus on vulnerable populationsUse novel information technologies
Remote SensingCrowdsourcingVisual Analytics
Develop and implement GIS-enabled (one)health databases
Enforce ethical standards and policies for data gathering and sharing
Engage citizen scientistsTrain students in interdisciplinary and
project-oriented settings
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"It always seems impossible until it's done."
Nelson Mandela
EI Course Objectives
Learn how to: formulate basic research hypotheses justify selected research hypotheses with the proper
evidence and support from the literature prepare data for analyses perform statistical/analytical techniquesUnderstand: the principles of research ethics the main concepts of research design the main concepts of critical review of results interpretation
Competent in the use of standard analytical tools (e.g.,
software programs) to test basic statistical hypotheses and visualize results
Obtain knowledge of and articulate underlying principles of data analysis with respect to the environment and health
Projects
Focus on Research and Environmental Health Applications (Internships in WHO, UN, UNESCO, Summer Scholars, TIE/WSSS funding support)
Semester-long Project develop a research hypothesis,
perform an appropriate literature review, conduct secondary data analysis, prepare visual aids,synthesize results, discuss findings.
MCM 589: Project Management and CommunicationThis course covers: communication skills that will enhance
collaboration and dissemination of information to stakeholders (the public, government agencies, etc.) as well as the practical skills needed to initiate, fund and manage research projects;
strategies for funding opportunities searching and the main elements of proposals preparation;
styles and strategies for publication in lay journals, delivery of legislative briefings, and use of other media.
Learning Objectives:
• Formulate and propose strategies for managing a team of experts and skilled staff to address a conservation medicine research question or develop a health application/program in a particular setting.
• Develop strategies for seeking government, foundation and corporate funding for conservation projects.
• Write competitive grant proposals for both government and non-governmental funding targets, including configuring realistic budgets and corresponding budget justifications and developing a plan for dissemination of results.
• Develop effective communication materials, including lay literature and methods of communicating with non-scientific audiences.
• Understand behavior change communication and develop an effective campaign designed to address a conservation medicine strategy, prevention program, or response.
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Group/Individual Activities
Project development topics include• Team building
“Elevator Pitch”Self-assessment
• Professional and research ethicsData Use Agreement reviewsIRB (CITI) training
• Seeking funders• Grant writing
Peer-review and assessment
• Project development and management• Program and policy evaluation
Sessions on the following topics that support the case study final project:• Collaborative writing• Data visualization• Team management and leadership.
Grading:Final grades for the course are based on
oral class participation (20%), writing exercises (60%), final presentation (20%).
Delivery: a complete portfolio
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Acknowledgements
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, R01 ES013171
(PI - Dr. Elena N. Naumova, Tufts University, Boston USA)
Tufts University Master in Conservation Medicine Program(Students and faculty: Drs. Gretchen Kaufman, Joanne Lindenmayer, Alison Robbins)
TIE
TELI 2008, 2012, 2013
