Challenges in Modelling Infectious Disease Dynamics: Preface

Abstract

This special issue of Epidemics arises from a research programme on ‘Infectious Disease Dynamics’ held at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, UK in August–September 2013, with a follow-up in May–June 2014.1 This programme marked the 20-year anniversary of a 1993 programme on ‘Epidemic Models’ at the Newton Institute, which played a major role in consolidating progress and charting a path forward for the field. Many readers of Epidemics will be familiar with the three ‘blue books’ that gathered the insights from this seminal gathering (Mollison, 1995; Grenfell and Dobson, 1995; Isham and Medley, 1996). The 2013 programme began with a week-long symposium, at which an international roster of speakers described progress from the last 20 years and presented their vision of progress to come. This was followed by three weeks of close interactions and intensive discussions among a smaller group, focused on identifying the major challenges currently faced by the field. This volume presents the outcome of these and subsequent discussions.