Outbreak Investigations and Research

Rationale

WHY?

Today’s highly mobile and interconnected world provides unprecedented risk for the rapid spread of infectious diseases such as monkeypox, arboviroses, cholera, multi-drug resistant infections, etc. Recent outbreaks have led to an increased awareness of the impact of such events on local health systems and on global health (security). At the same time, outbreaks present unique research opportunities to better understand emergence and impact, as well as to test and evaluate the effectiveness of specific interventions to prevent and control outbreaks.

WHAT?

The short course “Outbreak investigations and research” will provide you with the specific skills needed to design and implement interdisciplinary outbreak investigations with a particular focus on relevant research before, during and after outbreaks. You will analyse a variety of case studies on different types of outbreaks, including a range of transmission routes (such as vector-borne, air-borne, food&water borne), rapid and slow outbreaks, rare and common diseases.

FOR WHOM?

Are you a clinician, health system or programme manager, decision maker or researcher who has been involved in outbreak investigations and wants to be able to identify and appraise research needs and opportunities? Then this course is for you!

HOW?

The course integrates the expertise of an interdisciplinary ITM team involved in outbreak research, including epidemiologists, clinicians, social scientists, health systems scientists, microbiologists, GIS specialists, and entomologists.