Evidence for Infect Dis Policy

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

This course will build students' ability to identify and evaluate evidence related to infectious disease, and to learn to translate evidence into recommendations for policy. Both qualitative and quantitative evidence will be covered. The course will in particular explore how quantitative evidence can drive decision making for infectious disease problems. Students will learn how to evaluate model-based or other quantitative findings for public health policy. Special attention will be paid to representation of uncertainty, comparing evidence across studies and the importance of qualitative conclusions from quantitative studies. The course will build on students’ prior experience reading scientific papers and reports. Students taking the course should have background in biology, statistics, and epidemiology, as well as some coursework or other relevant exposure to policy and policy analysis. The course's lead instructor, Dr. Martha Nelson, will invite experts in data modeling, infectious disease policy, and other fields to guest lecture and draw on their publications and real-world experiences. In addition to graduate students, the course is open to senior undergraduates from Biology, Biology of Global Health, and School of Foreign Service.