You will acquire essential scientific knowledge and skills to analyse global health  issues in the field of infectious diseases, thereby linking molecular, clinical and population level aspects. You will learn to critically assess interventions that are aimed to reduce the global burden of infectious diseases and how to address these issues in low- and middle income countries.
 
Specific learning objectives
At the end of the course you will be able to:

1. Critically assess molecular and biological approaches to fundamental research on infectious diseases that are of global significance.
2. Understand the pathogenesis of certain infectious diseases and the options and limitation of infectious disease control.
3. Apply practical knowledge on important aspects in the design of programme evaluation and clinical trials, and get hands-on experience in the handling, analysis and interpretation of research data for informing public health decisions.
4. Apply mathematical models on the impact, costs and cost-effectiveness of HIV/AIDS control interventions; and use multiple criteria decision analysis for priority setting of health interventions
5. Describe and analyse the main building blocks of a (national) health system and critical aspects of good health governance.

 
Extra learning objective
Special emphasis will be given in this minor on the improvement of your academic and professional skills. The lecturers and your peers will provide feedback on your presentations skills and contribution to group work.

Content
Globalization affects every corner of the world, forcing us to approach important health issues more and more from a global perspective. The interest in Global Health and Infectious Diseases is therefore on the rise. It provokes a great deal of media, student, and faculty interest, has driven the establishment of several academic programs, is supported by governments as a crucial component of foreign policy, and has become a major philanthropic target. Global health is the health of populations in a global context and it goes beyond the perspectives and concerns of individual countries. It is about the control of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as non-communicable disease, such as diabetes and cancer; and about universal health coverage.
 
As a student Biomedical Sciences or Medicine, you are very well placed to study global health and infectious diseases. The challenges of global health are at the intersect of molecular, clinical, epidemiological, economic and other socio-behavioral sciences. The present course reflects this multidisciplinary nature and offers you a broad scope of methods, instruments and techniques stemming from the different disciplines. The course is designed for you to acquire theoretical knowledge, practical insights and hands-on skills on those matters. You will also learn how to translate scientific knowledge into policy recommendations and to deliver these in writing and through oral presentations.
 
In week 1 you will be introduced to global health and infectious disease. Throughout the course you will gradually expand your view and breadth of analysis, from a molecular perspective (week 2-5), and patient and clinical perspective (weeks 6-12), to a health systems and policy perspective (week 13-19). In the second half of the minor, you will work on a so-called Global Health in Action project in small groups for which you will study in-depth a relevant issue in global health. During the minor you will engage with leading global health and infectious disease researchers at Radboudumc and also meet experts working in Global Health and Infectious Diseases working outside academia. In the last week of the minor, there will be a study tour to the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, where you will get lectures from WHO experts and will also present the results of your Global Health in Action projects.
 
Key words
Molecular diagnostics; vaccine development; pathogenesis of infectious diseases;  control of infectious diseases ; development of intervention trials; clinical epidemiology; public health advice; methods for priority setting of health interventions; health systems responsiveness; global health governance.