A team of researchers from the University of Florida and the University of Pavia in Italy received the Best Poster award at the 22nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, held earlier this month in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Their study focused on the COVID-19 variant, Omicron, which is known for its high transmissibility and reduced vaccine efficacy.
UF team members included Simone Marini, Ph.D., an assistant professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health and Health Professions; Mattia Prosperi, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology and associate dean for artificial intelligence and innovation in the College of Public Health and Health Professions; and Marco Salemi, Ph.D., a professor of experimental pathology in the department of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine in the College of Medicine. All are members of UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute.
Their study used AI to predict the emergence of dominant Omicron COVID-19 variants with very high precision and accuracy, which is crucial for managing future outbreaks and designing new vaccines.