Interesting observation! To be honest, I hadnât thought much about this list from the perspective of it being a portfolio of (types of) expertise, rather than a list of interesting + useful topics.
Epidemiology: A sketch of infectious disease epidemiology: surveillance and outbreak detection, some basic understanding of infectious disease dynamics (e.g. R0, attack rate, compartment models).
I do feel that 60% classical epidemiology (if Iâm understanding your distinction right; your link gave the definition as âthe study of the determinants and distribution of disease in populationsâ) would be too high a weighting in a portfolio aimed at reducing global catastrophic biorisks. I think my reasoning there is based on a belief that GCBRs are most likely to arise from deliberate misuse of biology, and preventing that deliberate misuse is higher priority than developing better responses to natural pandemics. I donât feel terribly confident in this; my response here is pretty off-the-cuff, and Iâll try to give this topic more thought.
Interesting observation! To be honest, I hadnât thought much about this list from the perspective of it being a portfolio of (types of) expertise, rather than a list of interesting + useful topics.
For what itâs worth, epidemiology is one of four topics (along with cell biology, microbiology, and immunology) included under recommended Technical knowledge/âBasic science in Gregory Lewisâs âultra-roughâ Global Catastrophic Biological Risks Reading List:
I do feel that 60% classical epidemiology (if Iâm understanding your distinction right; your link gave the definition as âthe study of the determinants and distribution of disease in populationsâ) would be too high a weighting in a portfolio aimed at reducing global catastrophic biorisks. I think my reasoning there is based on a belief that GCBRs are most likely to arise from deliberate misuse of biology, and preventing that deliberate misuse is higher priority than developing better responses to natural pandemics. I donât feel terribly confident in this; my response here is pretty off-the-cuff, and Iâll try to give this topic more thought.
I asked an epidemiologist for some paper recommendations and got the following (which I havenât yet read):
*On the epidemiology of influenza, John Cannell et al., Virology Journal, February 2008.
*The population genetics and evolutionary epidemiology of RNA viruses, AndrĂŠs Moya, Edward C. Holmes & Fernando GonzĂĄlez-Candelas, Nature Reviews Microbiology, April 2004.
*Global trends in emerging infectious diseases, Kate Jones et al., Nature, February 2008.
I have also had my mind blown a little bit by Virulence evolution and the tradeâoff hypothesis: history, current state of affairs and the future. Learning more about viral evolution and evolutionary epidemiology has been fun, but/âand I remain uncertain how helpful this is in thinking about high-potential-consequence biorisks.