Update on TRACE: A Scalable Community-Based Approach to Estimate the Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
June 5, 2020
Because testing has been limited and only individuals with symptoms have been tested, no one knows how many people in most communities actually have the virus causing COVID-19.
The TRACE-COVID-19 project proposes to will fill this gap for the Corvallis and Bend communities.
TRACE-COVID-19 is a public health project conducted by researchers at Oregon State University to gather timely and lifesaving information about the prevalence and spread of the virus causing COVID-19 in Corvallis and Bend.
The project is providing information that is currently missing but essential for informing measures to slow the spread and minimize the impact of the disease. This project will also inform nationwide statistics.
Speakers
Benjamin Dalziel, PhD
Benjamin Dalziel, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology and Mathematics in the College of Science at OSU and the TRACE Project Leader. He earned his doctorate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University. Prior to joining OSU, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Metcalf Lab at Princeton University. Ben specializes in the dynamics of epidemics, specifically the factors affecting the emergence, spread, and control of infectious diseases. He uses mathematical models and data to study their spread and has extensive experience leading international studies on transmission dynamics of measles, Ebola, influenza and SARS-CoV-2.
Jeffrey Bethel, PhD
Jeffrey Bethel, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Epidemiology in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at OSU and TRACE Project Co-leader. He received his doctorate in Epidemiology from the University of California, Davis. Before joining OSU, he worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the prevention and control of communicable diseases along the U.S.-Mexico border and was an assistant professor of epidemiology at East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine. Jeff's research focuses on building adaptive capacity to address the health impacts of infectious disease outbreaks and natural hazards, particularly among vulnerable populations.
