1

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 considerNew 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

2

Global (One)Health SurveillanceServes one of the most essential functions in global healthProvides 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

5

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

Storage Processing & 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 EmergenciesScarce 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

EVEN

T

Immediate Response

Delayed Responses

Remote Sensing for Disaster Management

Land cover

NDVI – 8 km resolution

Pretoria, Malawi

September1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

September October1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

September October November1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

September October November December1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

September October November December January1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

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

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

September October November December January February

AprilMarch

1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

September October November December January February

MayAprilMarch

1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

MayAprilMarch June

September October November December January February1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

September October November December January February

JulyJuneMayAprilMarch

1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

NDVI

NDVI

Blantyre, Malawi

23

AugustJulyJuneMayAprilMarch

September October November December January February1.00.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

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

emergenciesFocus 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

26

"It always seems impossible until it's done."

Nelson Mandela

EI Course ObjectivesLearn 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

ProjectsFocus 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.

31

Group/Individual ActivitiesProject 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

33

AcknowledgementsNational 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