Epidemics, Emergencies, and Environmental Threats

Catalog description

This course will examine the fundamental challenges of public health, focusing on outbreaks, emergencies, and environmental threats, as well as the actions required to remedy those threats. Using a case-based framework, the class will study historical and recent epidemics, methods used to identify the sources of those epidemics, actions taken to protect the public, and the social and economic ramifications of each epidemic. The course will center on the actions and policies that are central to public health. Course readings and cases are designed to illustrate a major challenge of public health: that policy decisions often must be made in the setting of sparse or inadequate data. How do researchers, practitioners, and policymakers weigh the information available, secure necessary resources, build political will, and confront vested interests in order to protect or promote population health? Students who participate in this class will become proficient in applied epidemiological reasoning. The emphasis will be on evaluating the empirical base for public health decision-making. What data are available? Can we trust the quality of those data? What additional information would be desirable/essential? Research methods training will be embedded as the students learn to critique the quality of evidence used to support public actions. Students will develop (1) an understanding of basic epidemiological concepts, (2) familiarity with major historical and recent epidemics and the social forces that shaped those epidemics, (3) an ability to evaluate data critically and present data clearly, and (4) a capacity to apply a range of data sources to inform appropriate public health action.