Apps for Rapid Epidemiological Analysis (AREA)

This proposal is for Apps for Rapid Epidemiological Surveillance (AREA) that will equip warfighters with innovative capabilities to address population healthcare and disease management in SSTR and HA/DR operations. We are joined in this project by a team of expert consultants in epidemiology, military applications and population rapid data collection and social network analysis; they are introduced below. The proposed AREA capabilities will be designed and implemented as a suite of mobile device"Apps"with supporting backend capabilities at the Command Post. The AREA capabilities will include simple, easy-to-use health surveillance, bio-statistical analysis, and forecasting capabilities to support Course of Action (COA) development and decision-making in the field. Our scientific and technical approach is based on extension and enhancement of our current work in population data collection, our analysis of the literature and the practical experience of our expert consultants, augmented by our current work on tactical decision support systems. The proposed new and innovative AREA capabilities will include the following: Rapid population data collection using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS), Social Network Analysis techniques to identify patterns in pathology progression and to support targeted management and mitigation measures, and innovative geospatial and temporal data visualizations