collaborations.html

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Title: CoEpi Collaborations
heading: CoEpi Collaborations
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CoEpi is an open source project, and we're pleased to collaborate with a number of organizations who are also working in this shared space of leveraging exposure notification technology to reduce transmissible diseases in our communities. See below for more details on each of these collaborations:

<ul>
  <li><p>Flu Lab - CoEpi received a grant from Flu Lab to help expedite the launch of CoEpi to communities worldwide, as well as to further iterate future versions.</p></li>
  <li><p>Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) - CoEpi received in-kind development support from GTRI researchers, from March-June 2020.</p></li>
  <li><p>TCN Coalition - CoEpi is a member of the TCN Coalition</p></li>
</ul>

<h2 id="FluLab-funds-CoEpi">CoEpi Receives Funds to Accelerate A Mobile App that Provides a Personal Early Warning System for COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases</h2>

<p>CoEpi, an open source project, secured funding to expedite the development of a mobile app that provides a personal early warning system for detecting and responding to any infectious disease, including COVID-19 and the flu, which have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. Early detection and notification are critical to self-isolation and the prevention of widespread disease transmission. The CoEpi app combines Bluetooth proximity-based data with anonymous voluntary symptom sharing to provide exposure matching and symptom alerts. Symptom sharing is a leading indicator of COVID-19 and colds and flu, whereas testing, especially with COVID-19, is usually a lagging indicator with a smaller window in which to intervene after testing to avoid transmission. </p>
<p>By installing CoEpi and reporting symptoms, every individual can create a personal health safety zone through timely notifications about infectious disease exposure. With this information, individuals can use CoEpi to anonymously share symptoms and make an informed decision to self-isolate so they can prevent the spread of the illness to their families, co-workers, and communities.</p>
<p>CoEpi has received a grant from Flu Lab to help expedite the launch of CoEpi to communities worldwide, as well as to further iterate future versions. The grant will help accelerate the work of the CoEpi community by funding some of the open-source development work necessary to help expedite the public launch of @CoEpiApp in the coming weeks. </p>
<p>CoEpi is simple to use and anonymity is assured. There is no registration or information collected, and no profile is created. Users will enable Bluetooth to detect proximity to other users and will get alerted if anyone symptomatic was previously nearby, all without disclosing any information about the location or devices they were in proximity to. If the user begins experiencing any symptoms, they can choose to anonymously share symptom information for the purpose of alerting individuals they’ve been in proximity to about those symptoms. In the future, the app will allow users to enable location tracking, for the sole purpose of storing their own history on their device to be able to see the location where any exposure matches occurred. This information will not be uploaded or shared without explicit consent.</p>
<h3 id="CoEpi">CoEpi</h3>
<p>CoEpi was founded by and is led by Dana Lewis and Scott Leibrand. The CoEpi team consisted of a small group of individuals with diverse and relevant skills who are publishing all of our work completely open-source, for everyone to do everything they can to minimize the death and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about CoEpi, follow us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/CoEpiApp">@CoEpiApp</a> or review the rest of CoEpi.org. For more information about CoEpi contact dana+CoEpi@OpenAPS.org or reach out on Twitter to <a href="https://twitter.com/DanaMLewis">@DanaMLewis</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/scottLeibrand">@ScottLeibrand</a>.</p>

<h3 id="flu-lab">Flu Lab</h3>
<p>Flu Lab’s singular mission is to fuel bold approaches to defeat influenza. Flu Lab supports innovation in the fields of influenza and public health. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Flu Lab is supporting local and global efforts to strengthen detection, response, and mitigation efforts and protect vulnerable populations. We support initiatives that range from big and bold efforts to smaller, highly creative programs. More information about Flu Lab can be found at theflulab.org. Our twitter handle is <a href="https://twitter.com/TheFluLab">@TheFluLab</a>.</p>


<h2 id="here-s-what-we-re-working-on-">Want to collaborate?</h2>
<p>CoEpi originally focused on the following aspects of exposure notification technology. If you'd like to get involved, contribute funding to the project, or would otherwise like to collaborate, please let us know!
<ul>
<li>CoEpi built a system for anonymous Bluetooth proximity-based exposure alerting and voluntary symptom sharing, which doesn’t sacrifice privacy
</li>
<li>CoEpi built an app that works at the individual level; there’s no level of scale required to have individual utility
</li>
<li>CoEpi built an app that works for reducing all transmissible illnesses, in addition to COVID-19 (so also reducing things like flu, colds, norovirus, etc.)
</li>
<li>CoEpi built an app that will be a general health and wellness app: it will not give specific medical advice, nor will it diagnose or treat any disease.
</li>
<li><oEpi built an app that can be leveraged by public health officials in the future, if they choose.
</li>
<li>CoEpi is an open source project so others can leverage our work, so individuals can investigate code to decide if it’s trustworthy, and even enable individuals to implement their own server should they so choose to.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>If your goals align with this, please do reach out if you’d like to get involved and re-inspire the CoEpi project.</p>
<p>You can use <a href="https://forms.gle/MLeKz9nerPvX8fwC8">this form</a> to reach out.