PB HLTH 252B: Modeling the dynamics of infectious disease processes

When: Thursdays 9am-midday, Fall semester of each year
Units: 3

The goal of this course is to lead students through the process of designing mathematical models of infectious diseases, fitting these models to data, and using them as public health tools to design effective control strategies. Examples are drawn from COVID-19, HIV, influenza, Ebola,  and mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and Zika virus. Each class consists of a lecture followed by a computer-based activity to apply the material. Students also work on a project in which they design their own model and use it to answer a specific research question. Deep mathematical knowledge is not required as the goal of the course is to teach modeling skills to epidemiologists; however, students should be able to write and interpret ordinary differential equations, and to manipulate code in R. A modeling program called Berkeley Madonna will also be used to code differential equations and will be taught in-class.

​Prerequisites: Familiarity with ordinary differential equations and programming in R
Textbook: An Introduction to Infectious Disease Modelling by Emilia Vynnycky & Richard White. Additional material will be uploaded to the course website weekly.
Software: R, Berkeley Madonna, Excel
Grading: 30% weekly activities, 30% midterm project presentation and report, 40% final project presentation and report

Course syllabus:​ Here (Fall 2025)

For more information, please contact the course instructor (John Marshall) at [email protected].