Public health officials want better statistical models than can help them identify outbreaks of a disease faster. Government officials worried about bioterrorism attacks want the same thing.
They're turning to the National Institute of Statistical Sciences in Research Triangle Park to get them that model.
The Institute has been awarded $664,019 to develop just such a model to improve what is called syndromic surveillance. The money comes from the National Science Foundation and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now rely on syndromic surveillance, which takes health-related data from hospital emergency room reports and compares them to determine the probability that a widespread disease is present.
A faster model could shave days off of such data gathering. It also could be used to detect new diseases or outbreaks associated with a chemical or biological attack.
Alan F. Karr, director of NISS, said the grant money was for two years and in that time researchers should be able to address some "issues of theory and produce a research prototype of the system."
Once the two years is up, if the government agencies are happy with the Institute's work, its research could be picked up by another group to produce the software, or the Institute could take on a partner, Karr said.
In addition to Karr, the other investigators involved in the research are: David Banks, professor of Statistical Science at Duke University; Gauri Datta, professor of Statistics at the University of Georgia; James Lynch, professor of Statistics at the University of South Carolina and Francisco Vera, assistant professor of Mathematical Sciences at Clemson University.
Mary Cornatzer has worked at The News & Observer for more than 25 years, covering the local music industry, state movie industry and travel. She has been the paper's Business editor since 2000. Contact Mary at 919-829-4755 or 
