CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES OF OPEN DATA IN MODELLING INFECTIOUS DISEASES

1. University of Calabria
Challenges and Perspectives of
Open Data in Modelling Infectious
Diseases

2. Il gruppo di lavoro
Francesco Branda Massimo Pierini
Sandra Mazzoli
Bio: Francesco Branda is a Ph.D. student in
Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) at the Department of Computer Science,
Modeling, Electronics and Systems Engineering
(DIMES) of the University of Calabria, Italy. His
current research focuses on: (1) machine learning
and data mining algorithms; (2) data science
approaches to infectious disease surveillance
and modeling
Bio: Sandra Mazzoli is a Microbiologist, Virologist
and STDs Specialist. Since 1990 Responsible of
Sexually Transmitted Disease Center,
S.M.Annunziata Hospital, Health Florence Agency,
Florence, Italy. Fields of work: (1) Mutagenesis;
(2) STDs infections; (3) Chlamydia trachomatis;
(4) Chlamydia pneumonia; (5) HIV; (6) Herpes 1
and 2; (7) HPV infections and vaccine; (8)
Mycoplasmal Infections; (9) Mucosal
Immunology; (10) IgA antibodie; (11) Cytokines;
(12) Genito Urinary infections and prostatitis; (13)
Biofilm; (14) Epidemiology; (15) SARS-CoV-2
infection and COVID.
Bio: Massimo Pierini is a student of Statistics
and Big Data, Universitas Mercatorum, Rome,
Italy.

3. Descrizione
• As we saw with COVID-19, and with the prior Ebola and Zika outbreaks, a
cri>cal component of a coordinated response is the rapid sharing of research
results and data
• This work aims to build a surveillance system that bring together relevant
datasets for enables researchers to upload, access and analyze
epidemiological data that could accelerate scien>fic discovery and support
how countries prepare and respond to epidemics in future
• However, further strengthening data science capacity in public health
ins>tu>ons and more formalised feedback loops between the public and
disease modellers will be needed to leverage these technologies to generate
the most impact.

4. Obie;vi e des<natari del lavoro
• Urge the use of deposition and sharing archives of data which are
internationally recognized and adopt FAIR data access policies
• Formulate a high-level metadata model, shared by the scientific and
clinical community, which allows the collection of clinical data collections
on the diseases, making the information obtained from laboratory
analyses usable for research purposes integrating them with geographic
and temporal information
• Create a unique catalog of research metadata which special emphasis to
promote its interoperability
• Proposed platform provides researchers and policymakers with an open-
access tool to monitor the latest disease trends at the national and
European level

5. Risulta<
1. Branda, F., Abenavoli, L., Pierini, M., & Mazzoli, S.
(2022). Predicting the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 in
Italian Regions: The Calabria Case Study,
February 2020–March 2022. Diseases, 10(3), 38.
2. Branda, F., Pierini, M., & Mazzoli, S. (2022).
Hepatitis of unknown origin in children: Why and
how to create an open access database. Journal
of Clinical Virology Plus, 2(3), 100102.
3. Branda, F., Pierini, M., & Mazzoli, S. (2022).
Monkeypox: EpiMPX surveillance system and
open-data with a special focus on European and
Italian epidemic. Journal of Clinical Virology Plus,
100114.
4. Branda F, Pierini M, Mazzoli S. Monkeypox: Early
estimation of basic reproduction number R0 in
Europe. Journal of Medical Virology. 2023
Jan;95(1):e28270.
5. Branda F, Mahal A, Maruotti A, Pierini M, Mazzoli
S. The challenges of open data for future
epidemic preparedness: The experience of the
2022 Ebolavirus outbreak in Uganda. Frontiers in
Pharmacology. 2023;14.

6. Francesco Branda
francesco.branda@unical.it
PhD student in Informa9on and Communica9on Technologies (ICT)