The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease

Infectious diseases remain among the leading causes of death worldwide, and this burden is disproportionately borne by children living in low- and middle-income countries. Thus management of infectious disease remains a critical intellectual challenge in the 21st century. This course will develop and apply ecological and evolutionary theory to infectious microbes (and their hosts) via the detailed examination of a number of case studies. This will be accomplished by a combination of lectures, discussions, and readings drawn mainly from the primary literature. Assessment will be based on biweekly problem sets, two midterms and one final exam. Expected: BIOL 0200 , BIOL 0210 or equivalent.