4.8

stars

240 ratings

Nimalan Arinaminpathy

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Offered By

Associated with the Global Master of Public Health degree
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Infectious Disease Modelling SpecializationImperial College London

What you will learn

Construct valid mathematical models capturing the natural history of a given infectious disease.
Implement a mathematical model in R, calibrating it against epidemiological data in order to estimate key model parameters
Use a calibrated model to create model projections for different intervention scenarios
Explain the strengths and limitations of a mathematical model in relation to given research and policy questions

Skills you will gain

About this Specialization

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Mathematical modelling is increasingly being used to support public health decision-making in the control of infectious diseases. This specialisation aims to introduce some fundamental concepts of mathematical modelling with all modelling conducted in the programming language R - a widely used application today. The specialisation will suit you if you have a basic working knowledge of R, but would also like to learn the necessary basic coding skills to write simple mathematical models in this language. While no advanced mathematical skills are required, you should be familiar with ordinary differential equations, and how to interpret them. You'll receive clear instruction in the basic theory of infectious disease modelling alongside practical, hands-on experience of coding models in the programming language R.

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Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online courses

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible Schedule

Set and maintain flexible deadlines.

Intermediate Level

Approximately 3 months to complete

Suggested pace of 5 hours/week

English

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online courses

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible Schedule

Set and maintain flexible deadlines.

Intermediate Level

Approximately 3 months to complete

Suggested pace of 5 hours/week

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

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How the Specialization Works

Take Courses

A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.

Hands-on Project

Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.

Earn a Certificate

When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

There are 3 Courses in this Specialization

Course1

Course 1

Developing the SIR Model

4.8

stars

245 ratings

Compartmental modelling is a cornerstone of mathematical modelling of infectious diseases and this course will introduce some of the basic concepts in building compartmental models, including how to interpret and represent rates, durations and proportions. You'll learn to place the mathematics to one side and concentrate on gaining intuition into the behaviour of a simple epidemic, and be introduced to further basic concepts of infectious disease epidemiology, such as the basic reproduction number (R0) and its implications for infectious disease dynamics. To express the mathematical underpinnings of the basic drivers that you study, you'll use the simple SIR model, which, in turn, will help you examine different scenarios for reproduction numbers. Susceptibility to infection is the fuel for an infectious disease, so understanding the dynamics of susceptibility can offer important insights into epidemic dynamics, as well as priorities for control.

Course2

Course 2

Interventions and Calibration

4.7

stars

49 ratings

This course covers approaches for modelling treatment of infectious disease, as well as for modelling vaccination. Building on the SIR model, you will learn how to incorporate additional compartments to represent the effects of interventions, such the effect of vaccination in reducing susceptibility. You will learn about ‘leaky’ vaccines and how to model them, as well as different types of vaccine and treatment effects. It is important to consider basic relationships between models and data, so, using the basic SIR model you have developed in course 1, you will calibrate this model to epidemic data. Performing such a calibration by hand will help you gain an understanding of how model parameters can be adjusted in order to capture real-world data. Lastly in this course, you will learn about two simple approaches to computer-based model calibration - the least-squares approach and the maximum-likelihood approach; you will perform model calibrations under each of these approaches in R.

Course3

Course 3

Building on the SIR Model

4.8

stars

16 ratings

The other two courses in this specialisation require you to perform deterministic modelling - in other words, the epidemic outcome is predictable as all parameters are fully known. However, this course delves into the many cases – especially in the early stages of an epidemic – where chance events can be influential in the future of an epidemic. So, you'll be introduced to some examples of such ‘stochasticity’, as well as simple approaches to modelling these epidemics using R. You will examine how to model infections for which such ‘population structure’ plays an important role in the transmission dynamics, and will learn some of the basic approaches to modelling vector-borne diseases, including the Ross-McDonald Model.

Instructor

Nimalan Arinaminpathy

Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health

9,979 Learners

4 Courses

Offered by

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a world top ten university with an international reputation for excellence in science, engineering, medicine and business. located in the heart of London. Imperial is a multidisciplinary space for education, research, translation and commercialisation, harnessing science and innovation to tackle global challenges.

Start working towards your Master's degree

This specialization is related to the 100% online Global Master of Public Health from Imperial College London. It will provide you with a preview of the topics, materials and instructors so you can decide if the full online degree program is right for you.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the refund policy?
If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy.
Can I just enroll in a single course?
Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
Can I take the course for free?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free. If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for financial aid.
Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?
This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.
What background knowledge is necessary?
While you will not need advanced mathematics for this course, it is important that you feel comfortable with some basic mathematical concepts. You will need a working knowledge of ordinary differential equations (ODEs), and be able to interpret and explain an ordinary differential equation to someone who is not familiar with them.
As all coding activities in this course will be performed using the programming language R, you will benefit from having a working knowledge of this before commencing the specialisation. You will not need to know how to do scientific computing using R (this will be taught), but rather feel comfortable with basic R operations, including importing libraries and running simple commands.
How long does it take to complete the Specialization?
Approximately 4 hours a week for 3 to 4 months
Do I need to take the courses in a specific order?
We recommend taking the courses in the order in which they are displayed on the main page of the Specialization
Will I earn university credit for completing the Specialization?
No. Participating in this specialisation will not earn you university credit.

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.

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Infectious Disease Modelling Specialization

What you will learn

Skills you will gain

About this Specialization