{"id":7668,"date":"2020-12-11T10:29:21","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T09:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ubuea.cm\/?p=7668"},"modified":"2020-12-11T10:29:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T09:29:38","slug":"covid-19-research-at-the-university-of-buea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ubuea.cm\/covid-19-research-at-the-university-of-buea\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 Research at the University of Buea"},"content":{"rendered":"
Predictive Modelling and Forecasting of the Transmission of COVID-19 in Africa Using Artificial Intelligence.<\/strong><\/p>\n The University of Buea is partnering with York University as well as other institutions and organizations in Africa to use local data, Artificial Intelligence and Mathematical Modelling expertise to manage disease spread, with focus on the current COVID-19 Pandemic.<\/p>\n Researchers and Mathematicians from the Mathematical Biology Unit in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Buea, Cameroon are joining York University, Canada, and other organizations across Africa to predict the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide modelling that will help national policymakers from across Africa manage the virus in real time.<\/p>\n The Mathematical Biology Unit of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Buea has been the hub for postgraduate training and research in Biomathematical Modelling, especially the development of models for the epidemiology of malaria and mosquito dynamics for several years now. This maths modelling unit is currently in the process of being upgraded into an Applied Mathematical and Computer Assisted Modelling Unit (AMCAMU), still to be hosted by the Department of mathematics in the Faculty of Science at the University of Buea. The upgraded structure of the unit will bring on board aspects of Artificial Intelligence as well as open up avenues for collaboration with sister structures in the Department of Computer Science and the Faculty of Engineering in the University of Buea. The upgrade will better equip the unit to engage the artificial intelligence modelling aspect of the COVID-19 research project.<\/p>\n The COVID-19 research project is the outcome of international collaboration by researchers in Mathematics and will come to complement the effort of the Government of Cameroon in the fight against COVID-19 in particular and disease modelling in general. It is worth noting that the University of Buea is one of the Test Centres for COVID-19 in Cameroon and the Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, of the University of Buea, has been leading the COVID-19 response action plan for the University of Buea and the South West Region so far.<\/p>\n The project, \u201cPredictive Modelling and Forecasting of the Transmission of COVID-19 in Africa using Artificial Intelligence\u201d, will receive more than $1.2 million in funding from the Canadian International Development and Research Centre (IDRC). It is one of nine projects selected for funding through the Global South AI4COVID Response Program, focused on low and middle-income countries. (https:\/\/www.idrc.ca\/en\/news\/using-ai-and-data-against-pandemic-new-projects-global-south). The core of the project will be coordinated from York University in Canada under the leadership of Dr Jude Dzevela Kong, Researcher at York University, as Principal Investigator. Subgrants go to research centres in Cameroon, South Africa, AIMS, Nigeria, Botswana, Rwanda, Namibia, and shall involve a cross section of scientists that together constitute the consortium.<\/p>\n