CCU scientists awarded for contribution to research on CHIKV virus
Len Pietrafesa, Tingzhuang Yan, Shaowu Bao and Paul Gayes, all of CCU's School of Coastal and Marine Systems Science (SCMSS), were among more than 30,000 competitors and 462 teams in a contest sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The purpose of the contest was to improve methodologies in forecasting the spread of the infectious CHIKV disease, which is caused by mosquitoes.
The CCU team won in the category of "Best Data Sources Methodology." The team developed a methodology that combines statistical and data-driven empirical modeling approaches designed to track the development of a CHIKV epidemic.
Other competitors in the contest included universities, research institutions, commercial companies and government organizations.
CCU's team is internationally recognized for its expertise in forecasting methodologies. Creators of CCU's Hurricane Genesis & Outlook (HUGO) project, the team is led by Pietrafesa, former chair of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Science Advisory Board and now a Burroughs & Chapin Scholar on the SCMSS faculty. Bao is a computational, deterministic numerical modeler specializing in meteorology and oceanography. Yan is a meteorological oceanographer with a background in statistical modeling of climate and weather systems. Gayes is a longtime CCU professor and director of SCMSS.