Foundations in Infectious Disease Transmission Modeling

Infectious disease transmission modeling provides a theoretical framework for the field of infectious disease epidemiology, and therefore provides the basis for thinking about study design, data analysis, and decision making on public health policy questions. This course will serve as an introduction to infectious disease transmission modeling, teaching more quantitative concepts of disease transmission. It will cover the basic tools required to both critically read modeling papers and to develop and use models as research tools. Emphasis will be placed on using models to understand infectious disease processes and to evaluate potential control strategies. The class meeting will consist of both lecture material covering conceptual issues and a computer lab to apply these concepts using standard infectious disease models.