U-M senior Sabrina Corsetti‘s efforts to model the pandemic’s spread using a machine learning algorithm has now been included in those being aggregated for the CDC’s weekly projections.
Corsetti had her previous research halted when U-M suspended in-person classes and labs back in March. Thomas Schwarz, one of Corsetti’s research professors, happened to be modeling the pandemic’s data and included her in the project.
Corsetti’s new model performs ridge regression, which is a type of machine learning algorithm that finds a best-fit projection of future COVID-19 cases and deaths for the United States. The model is currently able to project up to 40 days in advance, using a method that centers a spectrum of predictions around a single optimal projection.
