With a scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines in many African countries and the rise of new variants of concern, 迟丑别听Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium聽(ACADIC) is playing a pivotal role in providing locally nuanced analysis of data to inform public health decision making, as well as vaccination rollout strategies.

The interdisciplinary consortium is directed by 91亚色 Professor  from the Faculty of Science. Also serving on the executive committee from 91亚色 are: Distinguished Research Professor , director of the  in the Faculty of Science and ACADIC co-president; Professor James Orbinski, director of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research and ACADIC executive committee member; and LA&PS Associate Professor , associate director of the  and ACADIC executive committee member. ACADIC brings together an interdisciplinary team of data scientists, epidemiologists, physicists, mathematicians and software engineers, as well as AI, disaster and emergency management, clinical public health, citizen science and community engagement experts. It is leveraging big data and AI-based techniques in nine African countries, with experts from 11 different countries 鈥� Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

These techniques help identify and analyze emergent COVID-19 hotspots and outbreaks, and develop strategic, highly targeted and staged delivery plans for vaccines to priority areas. The team is also using ongoing monitoring to enhance COVID-19 testing to ensure public health interventions are equitable and effective.

Half of the world鈥檚 doses of vaccines have been secured by a handful of economically developed countries, but most African nations have received very few and continue to prepare and test their vaccination campaigns for when sufficient vaccine doses are made available.

A defining challenge is to develop local strategies that will reduce the number of COVID-19 cases, even as variants of concern circulate amidst a dearth of vaccines.

Some areas of focus for 91亚色 researchers involved in ACADIC include:

• making big data and AI actionable for real-time delivery of reliable and comprehensive information to predict the spread and impact of an epidermic, and to guide governmental policies and best practice in an epidemic;
• the role of big data and AI in understanding and intervening in pandemics;
• big data, AI and COVID-19 in Africa;
• 迟丑别听;
• vaccine acceptance/hesitancy across Africa;
• incorporating AI and mathematical modelling for smart vaccination rollout in vaccine-limited regions;
• clinical public health practices in epidemics and pandemics;
• intervention systems in disasters and health emergencies;
• disease dynamics and modelling;
• transferring lessons learned from mass vaccination simulation to Africa;
• disease modelling and simulation in refugee camps in Africa; and
• use of AI to model economic impacts of COVID-19 in Africa.

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Historian Nicholas Rogers and mathematician Jianhong Wu were named distinguished research professors for sustained and outstanding scholarly, professional or artistic achievement largely accomplished at 91亚色.聽聽

Political scientist David Dewitt and education scholar Don Dippo were named University professors for extraordinary contributions to 91亚色 as colleagues, teachers and scholars.

The following profiles are based on citations given at convocation ceremonies in June:

Distinguished Research Professors

Nicholas Rogers (right) is one of the world鈥檚 leading scholars of the political culture of 18th-century British and Atlantic worlds.

In his writing, Rogers blends keen insights into the nature and operation of the early modern state with a detailed understanding of the social and cultural contexts in which it functioned. He has explored a remarkably diverse range of topics, from reactions to press gangs in British ports to religious conflicts amongst London鈥檚 crowds, from food riots to public reactions to blunders made by admirals, and even the genealogy of Halloween festivities. His compelling prose, intellectual rigour, powers of synthesis and painstaking archival research has allowed him to produce works that have served as models for subsequent writers on these and other topics.聽

In 1999, Rogers was awarded the Wallace Ferguson Prize for his book Crowds, Culture and Politics in Georgian Britain, a study of 18th-century Britain that fundamentally transformed our understanding of early modern Britain and prompted historians to reconsider how they treat the interplay between politics and culture. He brilliantly and persuasively mapped the pathways of political power and identified those who opposed, resisted and deflected its effects.

Jianhong Wu (left) is best known for his groundbreaking work on the application of mathematical modelling to the epidemiology of infectious diseases and was instrumental in establishing the MITACS Centre for Disease Modelling at 91亚色. This research has had a direct impact upon public health policy in Canada and abroad. After the SARS crisis in Toronto he was asked to establish a national working group on disease modelling and since then his research has advanced our understanding of H1N1, West Nile virus and avian influenza, to name but a few.

Wu joined 91亚色 in 1990, and was named Canada Research Chair in Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2001. He has made fundamental advances in a number of seemingly disparate areas, from wave theory to neural network theory to differential equations and his intellectual achievements have made him an international leader in the field of applied mathematics. His career exemplifies 91亚色鈥檚 emphasis on interdisciplinarity and on the application of research to real-time issues.

University Professors

Since political scientist David Dewitt (right) joined 91亚色 in 1984, he has demonstrated the utmost commitment to 91亚色 through his scholarship and outstanding service to other researchers, and in his two terms as the associate vice-president (AVP) of research in the humanities and social sciences.

Dewitt is a widely respected expert on human security and was instrumental in establishing the 91亚色 Centre for International & Security Studies. At the heart of his research into arms proliferation, conflicts in the Asian Pacific and the Middle East and national defence policies have always been a concern for managing conflict and the safety of peoples. He has passed these essential concerns on in his mentoring and supervision of generations of graduate students and junior faculty.

As AVP, he has been pivotal in transforming 91亚色鈥檚 research culture. He has been a motivating force in improving service support for researchers, increasing the number of external grants, creating facilities for organized research units and establishing an influential 91亚色 presence on national research councils. In all of these endeavours he has been mindful that research is not the exclusive preserve of those in science, engineering and medicine. His constant attention to 91亚色鈥檚 enduring research strength in the humanities and social sciences has made him an ideal ambassador both to this University and for research and scholarship in all fields of human knowledge.

Don Dippo (right)聽has made an extraordinary contribution to the University as a colleague, teacher, mentor and scholar. He has played an important, consistent and multifaceted role in the development of the Faculty of Education and to 91亚色. Through his teaching, administration and scholarship, he has also helped others learn how and why community engagement matters.

Before he joined 91亚色 in 1987, Dippo was an elementary school teacher specializing in music. He has brought the same skills, knowledge, dedication, patience and energy he used as a teacher to his academic life to great and wide acclaim.

Dippo has served as graduate program director and twice as associate dean of preservice education. He has spearheaded new initiatives and educational innovations dedicated to enhancing social justice and inclusivity. He has encouraged advanced study that will transform lives and communities. And he has posed urgent and difficult questions.

Dippo devotes long hours to initiatives that involve schools and community organizations. He is actively affiliated with 91亚色鈥檚 Centre for Refugee Studies. He is sought out by graduate students who enjoy his lively mind and capacious scholarly reach.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Wu, a , is leading two prominent Canadian teams on modelling and geo-stimulation of disease spread, and coordinates a number of academic-industrial collaborations in data mining, neuronal networks and pattern recognition. He is also the Canadian leader of a Canada-China collaboration in disease management and modelling, funded by the International Development Research Centre and Canada Research Chair program.

Right: Jianhong Wu accepts his Award of Merit

Recently, Wu was awarded the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals (Ontario) Education Foundation鈥檚 2010 Award of Merit for his expertise in the field of mathematical biology and epidemiology, during a ceremony and reception in Toronto. In the federation鈥檚 citation it was noted that Wu is recognized in Canada and internationally for his interdisciplinary research in modelling disease transmission.

鈥淚 feel deeply honored and humbled by the award,鈥� says Wu. 鈥淚 am very pleased that 91亚色's support for interdisciplinary research and outreach is also recognized by the federation that has been promoting interdisciplinary studies among the various professions.鈥�

What makes Wu distinct in his field is his ability to make novel contributions and integrate industrial application and applied mathematics to his research repertoire, and significantly contribute to both pure and applied mathematics.

Left: Jianhong Wu

He is most known for his contributions to the field of disease modelling, where his work has made a permanent and positive impact on human health. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, he established and led a national team of聽more than聽20 scientists from governmental agencies and medical and mathematical sciences to model the transmission dynamics and spread of infectious disease (see YFile, Dec. 9, 2003). The research conducted by Wu and his team led to the development of prediction and intervention strategies, which impacts directly on preparedness measures for an influenza pandemic.

His work has influenced various public health policies and has become the benchmark for researchers in the pandemic area and beyond.

Among his accomplishments, Wu is founding, and has co-authored 17 books and聽more than聽280 articles in both pure mathematics and mathematical applications. He is the recipient of various honours, including the Humboldt Research Fellowship (Germany), Paul Erdos Visiting Professorship (Hungry), Cheung Kong Visiting Professorship (China) and New Pioneer Science & Technology Award (Skills for Change). He is an executive member of the 91亚色 Institute for Health Research.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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