Achievement

Three M-EID courses taken by Trainees in their first semester integrate concepts and skills needed for cross-disciplinary research and communication in the ecology of infectious diseases. Trainees with diverse backgrounds (e.g. ecology, microbiology, math) collaborate on projects that enable them to draw upon their own areas of interest and expertise. The core biology course introduces evolutionary, microbiological, ecological, and epidemiological concepts relevant to the evolution and transmission of infectious disease. The core course in communications focuses on practices that facilitate cross-disciplinary scientific collaboration and communication of scientific information to diverse audiences. In the core math course, Trainees acquire practical mathematical and computational skills necessary to conduct research on infectious diseases. This course enrolled 14 non-IGERT students during fall 2008, and faculty plan to disseminate course materials as an electronic or hard-copy text.