Modeling MRSA Outbreaks
The Opportunity:
Ten years ago, Chicago (and some other cities in the U.S.) experienced a dramatic increase in severe skin infections caused by new strain types of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) circulating among otherwise health people in the community. Before the 1990s, MRSA only circulated in healthcare environments like hospitals, affecting individuals already compromised by other health problems and clinical procedures. Diane Lauderdale, a professor of epidemiology, was interested in using computational models to understand how these bacterial infections spread in the community. Arete brought Lauderdale together with Charles Macal, a systems engineer at Argonne, to use agent-based modeling to integrate information about MRSA spread, geographic factors and the behavior of individuals and groups. Arete then assisted the researchers with devising a project and successfully pursuing funding from the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) network, which was established by the National Institutes of Health to support dynamic modeling of infectious diseases.
What we did for them:
- Convene interdisciplinary partnerships across the University
- Collaborate with National Labs
- Facilitate research feasibility and agenda-setting workshops
- Help funders achieve their funding visions
- Engage federal agencies
Principal Investigator: Diane Lauderdale and Charles Macal