Optimal control of the epidemic under heterogeneity conditions - Subproject J (OptimAgent)

Basic data for this project

Description

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic presented an unprecedented challenge to societies and put a substantial strain on political decision making. The purpose of the OptimAgent Consortium is to develop a unified framework for public health decision making during pandemics allowing for the evaluation of the whole spectrum of interventions applied during the current pandemic. A central component of the consortium is the development of an agent-based model (ABM) substantially transcending the currently available approaches. With a flexible modular structure and a broad consultation process with national and international modelling experts, this model can support public health decision making in future epidemics. It will reflect the sociodemographic regional structures in Germany, allow for selective restriction of contacts in various settings based on detailed assessment of contacts, implement explicit contact tracing, potential testing strategies and be open for the addition of further modules. Beyond infection status, agents will have demographic, sociological, and psychological characteristics, for example making choices about protective behaviors or being influenced by information about local incidence or behaviors of other agents in the same community. Social inequality dynamics will be depicted. The model components will be prepared in other subprojects of the consortium. The specific focus will be on various aspects of heterogeneity in the population and insights will be gained with respect to which levels of heterogeneity require specific attention for future pandemic preparedness.