Description:

Department of Statistics 2020-2021 Seminar Series (joint with Biostatistics) - Winter 2021

“Data Science in Support of Management of SARS-CoV-2 Community Spread for a Large Metropolitan Area”

Katherine Bennett Ensor, Noah G. Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice University

Abstract: City and county governments in the greater Houston area have a long history of partnering with research universities in the region to address local challenges. I bring forward several data and statistics intensive projects that improve understanding and management of Covid-19 prevalence in the region. The projects include a regional and national registry, a statistically designed seroprevalence study, carefully curated case count information, and a large temporal and spatial study of viral shedding found in wastewater. I will also discuss the challenges of bringing state-of-the-art science to bear on real-time public health issues.