Michigan Tech has received $4.3 million as part of an $18.5 million, two-year federal grant to collect and genomic data to address emerging infectious disease threats and enhance the state’s ability to respond to those threats. The funding will increase sequencing capacity in the state, starting with SARS-CoV-2.
Dukka KC, associate professor of computer science, is a co-PI on the project. Dukka will develop a robust computational infrastructure and a bioinformatics workflow/pipeline for genomic surveillance. The scalable computational infrastructure will build bioinformatics capabilities in Michigan, improve timely genomic surveillance finfectious disease threats, and alert the public of detrimental SARS-CoV-2 variants in Michigan.
Guy Hembroff, associate professor of health informatics in the applied computing department, is senior personnel on the project. Hembroff has expertise in developing and managing AI prediction models for large-scale medical data and images. He’ll establish an outbreak surveillance infrastructure model for the public health disease population in the western Upper Peninsula and facilitate a partnership among Michigan Tech, healthcare providers, and federal and state agencies to transport and report environmental, human, and animal information and samples in the region.