# MIDAS Coordination Center - Year 6-10

> **NIH NIH R24** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $1,474,323

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
For nearly 20 years, the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) research network
has been an active community of infectious disease modeling researchers. The opening of the
MIDAS to the broader community and the COVID-19 pandemic spurred an intense increase in
interest, with membership growing from 152 researchers in 2019 to more than 1000 in 2023.
Since 2019, the MIDAS Coordination Center (MCC) led by the University of Pittsburgh has
worked to support the community. The MCC has provided the community with resources in
support of ID modeling, through a FAIR catalog of infectious disease modeling resources,
including a curated archive of COVID data as provided by public health agencies, and through
the creation of more than 200 COVID-19 and Mpox datasets in the standards-compliant Project
Tycho data format. Community support efforts included an active website; special-interest
groups for Latin-American researchers and students; support for the COVID-19 and Flu
Scenario Modeling Hubs; monthly webinars; and events including the Workshop to Increase
Diversity in Mathematical Modeling and Public Health and the MIDAS annual meeting. To
increase the rigor of modeling efforts, the MCC team developed and validated a checklist for
information needed to ensure the reproducibility of infectious disease modeling efforts.
In the next phase of the MCC, leading modelers from the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the University of Maryland will join forces with the team
at the University of Pittsburgh to expand the community focus of the MIDAS network and
promote further advances in modeling research. The new MCC will: 1) develop a community-
focused process to extend the MIDAS catalog with software, educational, and modeling results
resources; 2) Expand the collection of Tycho-formatted gold standard datasets and related data;
3) Organize community-based activities, including workshops, working groups, educational
activities and challenges; 4) Train the next generation of infectious disease researchers; 5)
organize coordination and outreach activities, including efforts aimed at engaging with public
health officials, mapping of community activities; hosting monthly webinars; and planning an
annual meeting; and 6) conduct novel research into the development of model description
frameworks and taxonomies in support of rigorous evaluation of modeling approaches. A focus
on responsiveness to community-needs will ensure the relevance and impact of MCC efforts.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10867695
- **Project number:** 1R24GM153920-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** HARRY S HOCHHEISER
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,474,323
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-15 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10867695

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10867695, MIDAS Coordination Center - Year 6-10 (1R24GM153920-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10867695. Licensed CC0.

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