Studying epidemics in virtual worlds

In recent years public-health officials have turned to computer scientists for aid in fighting a variety of infectious diseases. At the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, an assistant professor of medicine, works on the effort with virtual worlds. His team plugs in real data--infections and deaths in different regions, say--and then crafts simulations. It uses Census Bureau data to create a digital representative of each person in the U.S., with details down to a person's age, location, and job.

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