Emerging Diseases and Bioterrorism

Catalog description

The emergence of new pathogens and drug resistance, as well as increased transmission opportunities caused by human migration, political instability and breakdown of healthcare infrastructure, has led to a rising prevalence of infectious disease. This course aims to provide training in the biology, epidemiology and control of emerging diseases. It will provide the necessary skills to analyze the interplay between human host and pathogen in both evolutionary ecology and statistical epidemiology frameworks. There will be a discussion of ?Darwinian Medicine?. Specific bioterrorism pathogens will be discussed, as well as methods of identification and predictive modeling of a bioterrorism incident. In addition to lectures, class time will include practical data handling. Discussion of both methodological and substantive epidemiology papers from the recent literature will be led by the students.