This course explores infectious disease from both the host and pathogen perspective. Through short lectures, reading and active discussion, students will identify areas where evolutionary thinking can improve our understanding of infectious diseases and, ultimately, our ability to treat them effectively.
Lernziel
Students will learn to (i) identify evolutionary explanations for the origins and characteristics of infectious diseases in a range of organisms and (ii) evaluate ways of integrating evolutionary thinking into improved strategies for treating infections of humans and animals. This will incorporate principles that apply across any host-pathogen interaction, as well as system-specific mechanistic information, with particular emphasis on bacteria and viruses.
Inhalt
We will cover several topics where evolutionary thinking is relevant to understanding or treating infectious diseases. This includes: (i) determinants of pathogen host range and virulence, (ii) dynamics of host-parasite coevolution, (iii) pathogen adaptation to evade or suppress immune responses, (iv) antimicrobial resistance, (v) evolution-proof medicine. For each topic there will be a short (< 20 minutes) introductory lecture, before students independently research the primary literature and develop discussion points and questions, followed by interactive discussion in class.
Literatur
The focus is on primary literature, but for some parts the following text books provide good background information:
