Date

14 - 25 September 2026
Duration

2 weeks
Credits

Non credit bearing
Format

In-person
Fee

£2,850
Location

On Campus (White City)

Overview

Directed by Dr Anne Cori and organised by Dr Pablo Perez Guzman and Dr Daniela Olivera Mesa Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London

In recent years our understanding of infectious-disease epidemiology and control has been greatly increased through mathematical modelling. Insights from this increasingly-important, exciting field are now informing policy-making at the highest levels, and playing a growing role in research. The transmissible nature of infectious diseases makes them fundamentally different from non-infectious diseases, so techniques from 'classical' epidemiology are often invalid and hence lead to incorrect conclusions - not least in health-economic analysis.

Mathematical modelling now plays a key role in policy making, including health-economic aspects; emergency planning and risk assessment; control-programme evaluation; and monitoring of surveillance data. In research, it is essential in study design, analysis (including parameter estimation) and interpretation.

With infectious diseases frequently dominating news headlines, public health and pharmaceutical industry professionals, policy makers, and infectious disease researchers, increasingly need to understand the transmission patterns of infectious diseases, to be able to interpret and critically-evaluate both epidemiological data, and the findings of mathematical modelling studies. Recently there has been rapid progress in developing models and new techniques for measurement and analysis, which have been applied to outbreaks and emerging epidemics, such as Influenza A (H1N1) and SARS. A simple but powerful new technique for assessing the potential of different methods to control an infectious-disease outbreak was recently developed by course presenters.

Since 1990, this course has "demystified" mathematical modelling and kept public-health professionals, policy makers, and infectious disease researchers up-to-date with what they need to know about this fast-moving field, taught by individuals who are actively engaged in research and who advise leading public health professionals, policy-makers, governments, international organisations and pharmaceutical companies, both nationally and internationally, including on pandemic influenza, SARS, HIV, foot-and-mouth disease.

The Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London has been the world leader in mathematical modelling of the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases of humans and animals in both industrialised and developing countries for 20 years. It hosts the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, the NIHR HPRU in Modelling and Health Economics, the Jameel Institute, and the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium, among other initiatives. This multi-disciplinary department has publishes frequently in Nature, Science, Lancet, PNAS, AIDS and other leading journals. It has developed models of ebola, Iinfluenza A (H1N1), avian influenza, SARS, HIV, TB, foot-and-mouth-disease, vector-borne diseases including malaria and flariasis, helminth infections, childhood vaccine-preventable infections, sexually-transmitted infections, drug-resistant bacterial infections and others.

Learning journey

This course will enable you to:

Understand the key concepts of infectious -disease transmission and control - and the differences with non-infectious diseases - taught by people who apply those concepts every day.
Learn how modelling informs policy-making, from case-studies presented by the individuals who a dvise public health professionals and governments, nationally and internationally.
Learn about developments at the cutting edge, taught by leaders of the field .
Read modelling papers to critically-evaluate and interpret their findings.
Understand how different control measures (e.g. vaccination, treatment, isolation, quarantine, travel restrictions ) will be effective - or ineffective - for different diseases.
Explore models of different types of infectious disease, including influenza, TB, SARS, HIV, and vector-borne diseases.
Design, implement and use simple but powerful models using Excel and other user-friendly software.
Collaborate effectively with mathematical modellers.

Core topics

Introduction of the fundamental principles, including basic model structures for different diseases. How model equations are constructed to reflect biology (e.g. modes of transmission, whether immunity occurs or not). How age structure and heterogeneity in risk behaviour or disease susceptibility are incorporated. How the basic reproduction number is calculated. Stochastic and spatially-explicit models are also explained.

Special topics

Computer practicals