Where do new diseases come from? Does climate change impact diseases in humans? How did COVID-19 “jump” from animals to humans? This interactive, interdisciplinary course will discuss how the environment influences human disease, drawing upon the fields of medicine, public health, epidemiology, ecology, evolution, and environmental science. Students will learn the basics of how diseases spread from animals to humans, evolve in prevalence and impact, and how changes to the environment can potentially influence disease dynamics in humans. We will also discuss how future research can help predict future outbreaks, and the odds of another global pandemic occurring.
Course aim
To provide an overview of how environmental factors influence disease dynamics in humans.
Do I need any particular skills or experience?
- This course is for beginners and improvers
By the end of the course I should be able to:
- outline how diseases evolve over time, changing in prevalence and virulence
- explain how diseases move between different hosts and/or vectors
- recognize how environmental changes, such as climate change, influence disease dynamics in humans
- discuss how scientists are studying and will study future disease dynamics in the context of environmental change
What else do I need to know?
The course will consist of four interactive lectures, with breaks for questions and activities throughout. Students will have the opportunity to complete post-lecture assessments in Canvas to track their learning. Optional readings to accompany lectures will be provided in Canvas.
View full course information sheet
