[ thrust 01 ]

database development

In MAPPS Thrust 1 we are developing methods for collating, cataloging, and analyzing existing data streams on human mobility and contact. In Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) Phase II our goal is to launch a secure data clearinghouse with robust infrastructure and strong governance that facilitates the use of data for pandemic prediction and prevention.

MAPPS Thrust 1 is headed by Co-PI Sohini Ramachandran, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Director of the Data Science Initiative at Brown University. The core members of this working group have experience handling big data across a variety of disciplines. They include: Guixing Wei, Population Studies and Training Center (PSTC) and Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4); Mark Lurie, Department of Epidemiology and PSTC; Aditya Khanna, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences; and Jason Gantenberg, Department of Health Services, Policy & Practice, as well as research assistants Mal Go and Yatharth Sharma.

Members of the Data Working Group are conducting a literature review examining applications of mobility data in COVID-19 research. 

  • Dr. Guixing Wei leads this subproject and is assisted by Dr. Aditya Khanna.

  • The resulting manuscript will catalog existing mobility data sets and comment on how they have been used for COVID modeling.

Significance

Publicly available mobility and social mixing data are not necessarily optimized for scientific research. Datasets do not reside in a central repository, hindering our ability to locate and incorporate relevant data in scientific studies. Mobility and mixing data also often represent highly selected groups organized at different spatial and temporal scales, measured using different metrics, and disconnected from socio-economic and other contextual information. MAPPS is furthering pandemic prevention work by cataloging and documenting available datasets and working to standardize data cleaning and documentation across sources.

Subprojects

The MAPPS Data Working Group is developing data cleaning approaches with wide applicability to mobility and social mixing data sets. 

  • MAPPS has established relationships with several teams external to Brown who are conducting social mixing research. We will continue to explore data sharing arrangements with such partners.  

Meet the Data Working Group

The Data Working Group is collaborating with the MAPPS Thrust 4 team on issues regarding data privacy- namely, how to maximize the data available to researchers while minimizing the risk to study subjects.

  • Dr. Anna Lysyanskaya approaches this question through the lens of cryptography. She is interested in how the principles of differential privacy and multi-party computation may be applied to protect sensitive data.

  • Dr. Julia Netter advises the team from a data ethics perspective, reviewing proposed subprojects and developing risk communication strategies.