More than 60 student and faculty researchers from more than 20 departments and colleges at Saint Louis University have mobilized to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its effects. This includes a number of experts working to track the crisis.
Why Do We Track COVID-19?
SLU researchers from a variety of fields are tracking the spread of COVID-19, as well as related factors such as citizens鈥� mobility following the implementation and the lifting of stay-at-home orders and the location of infection hotspots.
According to Chris Prener, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, this research and the data gathered from it is crucial in pandemic response: 鈥淸These] data have provided policy makers with information that could be used to make decisions like tightening or loosening social distancing measures,鈥� Prener said. Additionally, tracking the data in real time provides a window in which researchers can test hypotheses.
鈥淭racking a pandemic helps us know where and when to focus our resources in public health and health care systems to best address the needs of the public,鈥� said Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., professor of public health and associate director of the .
It鈥檚 critical that researchers and public health officials have access to good data. 鈥淸Good data] measure the thing we want them to measure鈥� and, for something that unfolds over time, they do so in a way that is consistent," Prener said.
Ethical Considerations
As the collection of geolocated data becomes more prevalent in the fight against COVID-19, the ethical dimensions of this research become all the more important.
鈥淪haring data is imperative to manage this pandemic; as outbreaks continue to occur, we need to have the closest to real-time data we have available,鈥� Shacham said. 鈥淭he ethical use of data is of the highest importance. We need to ensure the public that these data will be used to improve health practices.鈥�
Driven by the University鈥檚 Jesuit values, SLU researchers are well positioned to grapple with these ethical issues.
鈥淲e have a range of experts both in the technical questions about data sharing, the legal facets of laws like HIPAA, and the larger philosophical challenges that a pandemic鈥檚 data present us with,鈥� Prener said.
Those experts include the members of the Geospatial Ethics Research and Practice Group within GeoSLU, which focuses on the ethical use of geospatial data and how best to balance privacy and the responsible use of data. That group is co-led by Shacham and Michael Rozier, S.J., Ph.D., assistant professor of health management and policy, who was named an EthicalGEO Fellow by the American Geographical Society in 2019.
Tracking COVID-19 at SLU
Below is a sample of the research happening at SLU to track the pandemic:
- SLU researchers from a variety of fields are tracking the spread of COVID-19. The SLU Geospatial Institute (GeoSLU) is leading these efforts. Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., professor of public health and associate director of GeoSLU, and Stephen Scroggins, a doctoral student in public health, have been tracking the spread of COVID-19 in St. Louis City and County, as well as mobility throughout the region as stay-at-home orders, have been enacted. The latest maps from GeoSLU can be found below.
- Shacham is also working alongside , assistant professor of computer science, and Roberto Coral, a research assistant in computer science, to develop an app that will monitor real-time symptoms and the location of symptomatic individuals while providing geolocated health care facilities near participants. These researchers are actively recruiting individuals working at grocery stores as well as any individual willing to participate in a study of intraday symptoms of COVID-19 and their related locations. Scroggins and Tim Wiemken, Ph.D., associate professor from SLUCOR, also assisting with this project. The app can downloaded below.
- Marc Painter, Ph.D., assistant professor of finance, is using geolocation data to examine the effectiveness of social distancing orders. He has found that political beliefs present a limitation to such orders; the likelihood of an individual following social distancing orders is affected by that individual鈥檚 political beliefs. Painter has co-authored a paper on this topic with Tian Qiu, a Ph.D. student in the finance department at the University of Kentucky.
More Geospatial Research at SLU
Below is a sample of additional geospatial projects happening at SLU to address the pandemic:
- Shacham, Wiemken and Stephen Scroggins, a doctoral student in public health, are using geospatial techniques to model relationships of infection risk in nursing homes and international airports.
- Shacham, Rozier, and Scroggins, alongside Travis Loux, Ph.D., associate professor of biostatistics, have conducted a study which examines geospatial data and individuals鈥� perceptions of privacy in the midst of this pandemic.
Maps and Other Resources
SLU researchers tracking the pandemic have created a variety of resources in the course of their work. A sample of those resources, including maps illustrating the spread of the virus, can be found below.
Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., Flavio Esposito, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science, and Roberto Coral, a research assistant in computer science, have developed an app to monitor real-time symptoms and the location of symptomatic individuals while providing geolocated health care facilities near participants. Join the effort to track and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in your community. Monitor your symptoms, find nearby health care facilities, and track the spread of the virus in real-time.
The following maps were developed by Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., professor of public health and associate professor of GeoSLU, and Stephen Scroggins, a doctoral student in public health. The maps show the spread of COVID-19 in St. Louis City and County, as well as mobility throughout the region as stay-at-home orders, have been enacted.
COVID-19 Rates by Zip Code in St. Louis City and County (4/26/20)
Mobility in the St. Louis Region Before and During Stay-at-Home Order
Chris Prener, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, has developed the following website to track the spread of COVID-19 in Missouri by county. Prener uses the latest available COVID-19 outbreak data from the New York Time鈥檚 COVID-19 project, the State of Missouri, the City of St. Louis, and St. Louis County. The New York Times data are used for state and county-level data, and local data sources are used for zip code and individual level data.
Prener is also providing updates on Twitter. You can follow him .
Tim Wiemken, Ph.D., associate professor from SLUCOR, Chris Prener, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, and Samson Niemotka, a health data science student, have created a time-series anomaly detection for mortality due to COVID-19. It tracks mortality by country, mortality by state in the US, and mortality by county in the US. It also includes Missouri and St. Louis city/county maps for various COVID-19 metrics.
Tim Wiemken, Ph.D., associate professor from SLUCOR, Chris Prener, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, and Samson Niemotka, health data science student, have created a time-series anomaly detection for mortality due to COVID-19. It tracks mortality by country, mortality by state in the US, and mortality by county in the US. It also includes Missouri and St. Louis city/county maps for various COVID-19 metrics.
Anomaly Detection for Mortality by Tim Wiemken, Ph.D.
The following map was developed by Gizelle Cota, Geographic Information Systems student under the guidance of Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., professor of public health and associate director of GeoSLU. The map shows the location of COVID-19 testing sites and accessibility from public transportation within St. Louis.
Health Care Facilities and Transportation in the St. Louis Region by Gizelle Cota
Tim Wiemken, Ph.D., associate professor from SLUCOR, Ana Santos Rutschman, S.J.D., assistant professor of law, and Dan Hoft, M.D., Ph.D., professor of internal medicine and infectious diseases, created a FluView Mortality Anomaly Detection. It allows automated analytics for national and state-level data over the past seven years.
FluView Mortality Anomaly Detection by Tim Wiemken, Ph.D.
Anwuli Okwuashi, a data analyst with the Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research, has created the following dashboard to track the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Tim Wiemken, Ph.D., associate professor from SLUCOR, and Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., professor of public health and associate director of GeoSLU, created a graph comparing documented Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI) and influenza positive public health and clinical laboratory reports. This graph shows the influenza season from Week 40, 2019 through Week 17, 2020 and shows the COVID-19 Transmission Zone.
Influenza-Like-Illness versus Influenza Positive for COVID-19 Syndromic Surveillance by Tim Wiemken, Ph.D.
Tim Wiemken, Ph.D., associate professor from SLUCOR, created a IPStats webpage that allows infection prevention staff to upload their data for various analytics. This includes a SPC 7 Anomaly Detection, SPC T Chart, and Hand Hygiene Compliance Monitoring Tool.
COVID Tracking Data Uploader by Tim Wiemken, Ph.D.
The Health Lab at the Geospatial Institute at Saint Louis University is focusing on several projects to help monitor and predict COVID-19 outbreaks. The webinar discussion surrounds different data sources including anonymized smartphone data as well as app users, and the security and privacy of those data.
In June 2020, the SLU Research Institute hosted the first installment of "Research Roundtable," a new webinar series highlighting the transformative work happening at the University and with partners across the region. Hosted in partnership with the , the first installment of the series, "Predicting and Responding to Outbreaks," brought together a distinguished panel of regional leaders and SLU researchers to discuss the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolds in St. Louis and what they have learned for future outbreaks.