October 19, 2020
A group of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine researchers are part of a team that has received a $944,875 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
A total of 29 research teams across the country are developing quantum and artificial intelligence solutions that will have a positive impact on society through the NSF Convergence Accelerator program. The program is designed to leverage a convergence approach to transition basic research and discovery into practice.
The “Precision Epidemiology (pEPI)” team is looking at data-driven disease control and prevention in veterinary health. pEPI helps producers, veterinarians and other stakeholders to more timely identify animal health problems by facilitating the integration and sharing of key datasets and developing new data-drive models specifically adapted to animal health.
Dr. Maria Jose Clavijo Michelangeli, research assistant professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, is the co-principal investigator on the project. Other College of Veterinary Medicine faculty members on the team include Dr. Rodger Main, director of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and Dr. Ganwu Li, associate professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine.
The research team also includes faculty members from the University of California-Davis and veterinarians at Pipestone Veterinary Services.
“Animal health and food safety is a continuous challenge,” Clavijo said. “If something goes wrong it has a tremendous impact in our society.
“The maintenance of good swine health, high productivity and efficiency is key to guarantee the sustainability of the industry,” Clavijo said. “This requires informed and timely decisions using scientific-based analytical tools and prediction models, based on reliable and current data to better manage swine health.”