Scholarship recipient Emily Truong is pursuing degrees in both dance and data science.

Emily Truong is not one to give up on her passions. She has been dancing since she was 6 years old and, though she knew she wanted a career in healthcare, which would require intensive study and focus, didn’t want to abandon the joyful activity during college. Now, as a double major in dance and data science (with an eye toward biomedical data analysis), Truong pursues both of her passions at UCI.

Read Emily’s full story on UCI News.

COVID Modeling Consortium resources designed to strengthen response to future outbreaks

UCI is one of four UC system institutions to receive COVID Modeling Consortium funding recently for projects devoted to improving our understanding coronavirus detection and impact, virus transmission and behavior, mitigation strategies and social and behavioral considerations. Led by Vladimir Minin, professor of statistics, a research team will conduct a study to improve accuracy and precision of COVID-19 forecasts and scenarios through analysis of inputs from multiple data sources.

“Reliable, accurate and timely data are key to an effective pandemic response,” said Minin, associate director of the UCI Infectious Disease Science Initiative. “Equally important is the application of those data in modelling and statistical analyses to ensure that policy makers have the tools they need to guide the right public response.”

Read the full article at UCI News.

Four teams of researchers focused on COVID-19 related data analysis and modeling received grants from the University of California Health and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) COVID Modeling Consortium, an innovative consortium launched last year to ensure public health policy makers have timely, relevant analysis and insights to support pandemic-related decision making.

The areas of focus for the funding were driven by priorities set by CDPH for gaining deeper understanding of COVID-19 matters, such as disease detection and impact, virus transmission and behavior, mitigation strategies, and social and behavioral considerations.

The studies selected for the grants are designed to provide insights on COVID-19 related challenges such as forecasting, understanding disease risk for Black populations, effectiveness of K-12 school mitigation strategies, and disparities in COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. The research proposals, which together received approximately $236,000 in funding, are:

• A study to improve accuracy and precision of COVID-19 forecasts and scenarios through analysis of inputs from multiple data sources by UC Irvine investigators, including Statistics Professor Vladimir Minin.

Read the full story on UC Health.

Individually tailored wellness approach is giant leap in patient control, improved outcomes

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 15, 2022 — The University of California, Irvine today announced the launch of the Institute for Precision Health, an endeavor that marries UCI’s powerhouse health sciences, engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, clinical genomics and data science capabilities to deliver the most effective health and wellness strategy for each individual person and, in doing so, confronts the linked challenges of health equity and the high cost of care.

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Socioeconomic, geographic and demographic factors all played critical roles in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 mortality among Orange County residents last year, according to a study led by the University of California, Irvine. The findings, published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, show that some groups were more likely to test positive and die from the virus. Furthermore, risk factors for infection shifted over time.

Read the full story on UCI News.

For her junior year of high school, Sirui Hu decided to take a step outside her comfort zone – a big one. The Shenzhen, China teen went abroad her junior and senior year and landed in Orange County. And when her high school offered a joint summer program that brought her to UCI to explore campus and meet new students, she fell in love with the campus and its inclusive culture.

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A record of medicine utilization patterns assembled by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the UC San Diego School of Medicine reveals the thought, care and scientific rigor clinicians at UC Health medical centers applied in their treatment of patients with COVID-19 in 2020.

Read the full story at UCI News.