IDEAS Core Courses

Population Biology of Infectious Diseases – ECOL 4150/6150

Ecology and evolution of infectious diseases that affect free-living animals, plants and human populations. Topics include pathogen life history and transmission modes, epidemiology and impacts on hosts, evolution of resistance and virulence, emerging infectious diseases, and the role of parasites in wildlife conservation.

Journal Club

Journal clubs expose students to ecological and evolutionary perspectives of infectious disease science. Students will present and discuss published research articles relevant to the study of infectious diseases.

Responsible Conduct of Research – GRSC 8550

Through a series of presentations and case study discussions, students will explore ethical issues in research, including codes of ethics for professional organizations, the responsible conduct of research, and the development of personal professionalism and ethics.

Fundamentals of Disease Biology – ECOL 8510

A case-study based survey of the fundamentals of infectious disease covering basic concepts in ecology, evolution, immunology, biochemistry, cell biology and metabolism as they relate to infectious diseases. Case study modules are used to explore processes involved in host-pathogen interactions across multiple levels of organization, and computer labs focus on posing and solving numerical problems related to the dynamics of infectious.

IDEAS Capstone – ECOL 8530

Practicum course where trainees are tasked with developing an actionable research agenda and collaborating to address one or more questions from this agenda using quantitative skills developed in other coursework. Students are challenged with delivering three tangible products to hone their technical and transferable skills: an education model for K-12 or public audiences, a basic science research paper, and an applied product such as a white paper for clinicians or policy makers.

Summer Workshops in Computational Biology – ECOL 8540

Intensive, hands-on modules involving a combination of lecture and laboratory practicum, spanning topics such as mathematical models of infectious diseases; infectious diseases, immunology and within-host models; molecular epidemiology of pathogens, disease data mining, and multi-scale modeling.

Please note: All IDEAS courses (and many of the IDEAS-related activities) are available to any graduate student interested in infectious disease. Contact our program coordinator if you have any questions or need assistance with registration.