Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Development - Period 3 Business & Economics Program 2023/2024 Year - Amsterdam

This course gives insight into the past, current and future preventive health care concerning control of infectious diseases with a focus on vaccination. It will be a mixture between biomedical sciences and health policy and management. The various guest lectures by experts from the field give a unique opportunity to learn more about this field. First, we will refresh your knowledge on infectious diseases and immunology as the basis for vaccinology. Diagnostics, essential for testing of vaccine efficacy and prevalence of diseases, are also discussed. We further focus on the research & development and manufacturing of vaccines, including quality control and quality assurance. The safety monitoring of vaccines will get special attention. We will address a number of infectious diseases that can be prevented by vaccines in national and international context. Hence the Dutch National Vaccination Program will be discussed in detail, as will the role of vaccines in International Public Health. We will analyze the Dutch vaccination program and the role of key actors such as the government, the Dutch Health Council and the National Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIVM). The future outline and challenges of the Dutch vaccination program are discussed in detail, including how public opinion affects vaccination policies.

To put acquired knowledge into practice, all students will be involved in a group assignment, studying one particular vaccine against a specific infectious disease. The results of these group assignments are to be reported in a presentation. At the end of the course students will get the opportunity to visit the Vaccine Unit of the RIVM in Bilthoven, for discussion on specific subjects of interest with scientists involved with the implementation of the Dutch vaccination program.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.