An Illinois Risk Lab summer research team has launched a web-based tool for contingency planning and allocation of critical medical resources for COVID-19 in North America.

This work takes an actuarial approach to forecast demand and supply for critical medical resources, develop optimal stockpiling and allocation strategies to minimize the economic impact of demand-supply imbalance. The tool has been applied to mechanical ventilators, testing kits, and personal protective equipment in all 50 states in the United States, and will soon be made available for data from Canada. As the team continues to refine and improve the tool over the summer, the ultimate goal is to make the toolkit useful for public health policymakers and risk management professionals.

Great teamwork by the Project Manager Linfeng Zhang, and IRisk Lab Associates Han Bai, Ajay Dugar, Akshay Dugar, Cameron Groch, Qingxuan Kong, Xuan Lin, Ben Lipka, Jingying Luo, Sihan Meng, Pasqua Ruggiero, Charan Sankaran, Erchi Wang, Yanbing Yi, Jasmine Yi, Yi Yuan, Yuqi Zhang, Annie Zheng. The project is led by Professors Alfred Chong and Runhuan Feng, and Professor Xiaowei Chen from Nankai University.

Eager to join an IRisk Lab project? Projects offering in Fall 2020 will soon be open for applications. Stay tuned!