Summer Institute in Statistics and Modeling in Infectious Diseases Coming to Rollins

By Shelby Crosier

Starting this summer, Rollins is the new home of the Summer Institute in Statistics and Modeling in Infectious Diseases (SISMID). This two-and-a-half-week course is designed to introduce modern statistical analysis and mathematical modeling methods to infectious disease researchers. Graduate students, postdocs, and professionals from academia, government, and industry are eligible to attend.

“It's really a unique program because some of the courses are so specialized that no graduate program in the country would offer them,” says Natalie Dean, PhD, assistant professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics. “These include reconstructing transmission with genomic data, simulation-based inference, and network modeling for epidemics. We have also added a few new courses, including on Tidyverse, machine learning, and reproducible research.”

SISMID was formerly housed at the University of Washington and has trained thousands of students during its 15-year history. It is now under the direction of Dean and Ben Lopman, PhD, professor of epidemiology and environmental health. It joins a wealth of other offerings at Rollins aimed at training and developing infectious disease researchers.

“SISMID adds to the depth of infectious disease training and research programs already at Emory – including Emory’s Vaccine Center and the Alliance for Vaccine Epidemiology,” says Lopman. “And, of course, we are right across the street from CDC’s headquarters.  SISMID is jointly funded by the National Institutes of Health and CDC and is part of Emory’s Center for Infectious Disease Modeling & Analytics and Training Hub.”

Registration is now open for this summer’s SISMID, happening July 15-31. Students and postdocs may also apply for scholarship funding to attend.