{"689786":{"#nid":"689786","#data":{"type":"event","title":"CHHS Webinar Series: \u0022Infectious Disease Forecasting with Digital Data Streams: Comparing AI Transformers with Classical Statistical Methods\u0022","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAccurate and timely forecasting of infectious diseases is critical for public health decision-making. Over the past decade, digital data streams such as internet search queries, electronic health records, and pharmacy sales data have emerged as powerful supplements to traditional surveillance systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis seminar presents a synthesis of research focused on leveraging these data sources for infectious disease prediction, spanning from classical statistical approaches to modern AI architectures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003EKey Areas of Discussion:\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStatistical Methodologies:\u003C\/strong\u003E The presentation covers a family of models that combine autoregressive time series structure with penalized regression on Google search data. This includes extensions to spatial-temporal modeling, multi-disease settings, and COVID-19 adaptation.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAI Architectures:\u003C\/strong\u003E Recent work on attention-based transformer architectures for time series forecasting will be discussed, highlighting methods for multivariate dependency modeling, in-context learning, and efficient linear attention.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPractical Application:\u003C\/strong\u003E Drawing from ongoing participation in the CDC FluSight forecasting initiative, the session compares the strengths and limitations of both paradigms and shares practical lessons learned from real-time deployment.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe talk aims to offer perspective on when and how statistical rigor and deep learning flexibility each contribute to reliable disease forecasting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003EAbout the Speaker\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/users\/shihao-yang\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDr. Shihao Yang\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E is a Harold E. Smalley Early Career Professor and Assistant Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. He completed his PhD in statistics and post-doc in Biomedical Informatics at Harvard University. Dr. Yang\u2019s research focuses on data science, with special interest in time series, dynamical systems, and applications in infectious disease transmission forecasting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/webinar\/register\/WN_rGkOsJm9QLq2T4KXVZ1Mcw#\/registration\u0022\u003ETo attend, please register online via Zoom\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMove beyond slow, traditional reporting and explore how modern AI uses everyday data, like internet queries and sales records, to forecast outbreaks in real-time. We will trace the evolution of disease tracking as it shifts from \u0022old school\u0022 statistics to the cutting-edge AI architectures currently protecting our communities. Join us to see how these high-tech tools empower public health leaders to make faster, smarter decisions when every second counts.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Move beyond slow, traditional reporting and explore how modern AI uses everyday data, like internet queries and sales records, to forecast outbreaks in real-time."}],"uid":"27233","created_gmt":"2026-04-16 12:25:40","changed_gmt":"2026-04-29 11:41:02","author":"Andy Haleblian","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-05-04T10:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2026-05-04T11:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-05-04T11:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-05-04 14:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-05-04 15:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-05-04 15:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680089":{"id":"680089","type":"image","title":"Infectious Disease Forecasting Webinar","body":null,"created":"1777462804","gmt_created":"2026-04-29 11:40:04","changed":"1777462804","gmt_changed":"2026-04-29 11:40:04","alt":"CHHS Webinar Series: \u0022Infectious Disease Forecasting with Digital Data Streams: Comparing AI Transformers with Classical Statistical Methods\u0022","file":{"fid":"264328","name":"20260504_CHHS_webinar_v2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/29\/20260504_CHHS_webinar_v2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/29\/20260504_CHHS_webinar_v2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":144751,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/04\/29\/20260504_CHHS_webinar_v2.jpg?itok=PMmXEhB9"}}},"media_ids":["680089"],"related_files":{"264196":{"fid":"264196","name":"CHHS Webinar Series flyer: \u0022Infectious Disease Forecasting with Digital Data Streams: Comparing AI Transformers with Classical Statistical Methods\u0022","file_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/2026-04\/GTCHHS-WebinarSeries_ShihaoYang_20260504.pdf","file_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/2026-04\/GTCHHS-WebinarSeries_ShihaoYang_20260504.pdf","mime":"application\/pdf","description":""}},"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/webinar\/register\/WN_rGkOsJm9QLq2T4KXVZ1Mcw","title":"To attend, please register online via Zoom"},{"url":"https:\/\/chhs.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/downloads\/GTCHHS-WebinarSeries_ShihaoYang_20260504.pdf","title":"Download the seminar flyer"}],"groups":[{"id":"1250","name":"Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems (CHHS)"},{"id":"1242","name":"School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE)"},{"id":"1243","name":"The Supply Chain and Logistics Institute (SCL)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"194684","name":"Free"},{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"177814","name":"Postdoc"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}