340.677.01 INFECTIOUS DISEASE DYNAMICS: THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES

Focuses on the dynamic processes that affect the spread of infectious disease. Presents basic conceptual approaches and a survey of specific theoretical and computational methods for simulating the spread of diseases. Specific topics include the effect of population heterogeneity on transmission, simulation of the impacts of interventions, social networks and the links between transmission dynamics and the evolution of pathogens. Particular methods include mathematical models, spatial-temporal analysis of epidemics, social network theory, genetic algorithms, individual based models and other tools of systems epidemiology. Concepts and methods are applied to historical epidemics, current emerging diseases and diseases of international public health importance.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1) Assess computational and theoretical studies of infectious diseases that appear in the literature. 2) Develop simple computational models of infectious disease to simulate the spread of an infectious disease in a population. 3) Distinguish between existing computational approaches and describe the relative strengths and weaknesses of each.