TORONTO, May 1, 2003 -- The National Centre of Excellence, MITACS, has assembled a national team of mathematicians, virologists, infectious disease experts and leading public health scientists, led by Canada Research Chair in Applied Mathematics at York University, Dr. Jianhong Wu, to tackle recent outbreaks of infectious disease, such as SARS.
The team of Canadian and international experts are developing mathematical models and techniques for the SARS outbreak, from its latency and incubation period to its global spread. They will use complex computer simulations to predict the pattern of spread and make recommendations for public health policy, in a project called Transmission Dynamics and Spatial Spread of Infectious Diseases: Modeling, Prediction and Control.
The team is funded by MITACS (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems), which brings together industry and academia to solve large-scale problems involving mathematical applications. The team includes: Prof. Marcia Rioux, chair of the School of Health Policy and Management at York University and director of the York Centre for Health Studies; Prof. Vincent Tao, Canada Research Chair in Geomatics and director of York’s Geospatial Information and Communication Technology Lab; and participants from the Cadham Provincial Laboratory in Winnipeg, and the Central East Health Information Partnership in Toronto. Two American scientists, Dr. Martin Jack Blaser, King Professor of Internal Medicine and Chairman and Professor of Microbiology at New York University School of Medicine, and Dr. Glenn Webb, an eminent applied mathematician at Vanderbilt University, are also on the team.
"Public health scientists will provide the data that is key to ensure the viability of the mathematical modeling, and geospatial mapping of the data will enable us to track the spread of the disease more effectively," said Prof. Rioux. "In the present SARS situation where so much is still unknown, mathematical modeling and analysis can also help to rule out certain hypotheses and to speed up the process of finding effective test and prevention measures."
There has been active interplay between mathematics and epidemiology since the earliest days of epidemiological modeling, and striking successes, such as the Ross malaria model of 1909 and the applications of mathematical analysis for gonorrhea control. Useful applications of mathematical modeling of infectious diseases also include the design of immunization strategies and control programs. "Our previous work within the healthcare field has proven that mathematical modeling and analysis play a key role in the effective control and treatment of diseases," said MITACS Scientific Director, Dr. Arvind Gupta.
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For further information, please contact:
| Prof. Ron Pearlman | Prof. Marcia Rioux | Susan Bigelow | Dr. Arvind Gupta |
| Dept. of Biology | York Centre for Health Studies | Media Relations | MITACS |
| York University | York University | York University | 604-291-3349 |
| 416-736-5241 or | 416-736-2100, ext. 22112 | 416-736-2100, ext. 22091 | arvind@mitacs.ca |
| 416-736-5481 | mrioux@yorku.ca | sbigelow@yorku.ca | |
| ronp@yorku.ca |
YU/044/03
