Project Mentors: Thomas McAndrew, Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics & Health Data Science

2026 Impact Fellows:
 

Project Description:

University students face a high risk of flu infection, yet reliable, timely communication about campus health trends is often missing. This project intends to build an innovative health communication framework to change that, to forecast campus health threats in ways that benefit the campus community.

This is a unique, interdisciplinary opportunity to apply mathematical modeling, data science, and communication strategies to a critical public health challenge. Drawing successful principles from weather reporting, we will transform complex influenza forecast data into accessible, "weather-style" health reports.

Students on this project will be responsible for:

  • Modeling and Dashboard Development: Training in infectious disease forecasting to build and maintain a real-time, interactive flu forecasting dashboard for our campus community. This dashboard will build upon early work already underway.
  • Health Communication Production: Producing weekly news columns and bi-weekly video clips (using green screen and studio equipment) that deliver flu trends in an engaging, meteorologist-style format.
  • Cross-Campus Expansion: Collaborating on documentation, data sharing agreements, and modeling efforts to expand this framework to surrounding universities.

If you are passionate about data, health, and communication, this project will work toward pioneering the future of campus infectious disease reporting.