Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Disease
How does pathogen genomics help us track the spread of diseases around the world and within hospital wards? Can mathematical models really guide public health policies? How influential was the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in reshaping animal health and trade practices? Why haven’t we eradicated measles yet?
The Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Disease module caters for all NST, MedSt and VetST students interested in the big picture of how infectious diseases spread in animal and human populations, and how science and policy interact in the design and implementation of control measures.
This module also seeks to demystify the application of mathematical and computational models to understand disease dynamics and pathogen evolution. Students with a particular interest in quantitative techniques may wish to explore this further through a computational project, whereas those without can focus on the applications of epidemiological concepts to a wide range of diseases.
The program is organised and delivered by experts in infectious disease epidemiology from across the School of Biological Sciences, complemented by guest lectures on specific infections by external experts.
Research Projects
Students will be offered research projects at the Department of Veterinary Medicine, which may be laboratory or computer-based, emphasising mathematical biology.
Examples of Recent Projects
- Epidemiology of Norovirus in Germany
- Modelling the control of bovine tuberculosis in Ethiopia.
- Epidemiology of epidemic meningococcal disease in the African meningitis belt.
- Bactericidal activity of canine urinary extracellular vesicles.
- Prospects for the use of vaccination to control bovine tuberculosis in the UK.
- Detecting patterns of multidrug resistance in pig microbiota.
- Evaluation of immune imprinting in the coronaviruses.