Global Infectious Disease
Global infectious disease is one of the most urgent fields in contemporary public health. The COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus what specialists in tropical medicine and epidemiology have long understood: infectious diseases do not respect national borders, and the capacity to prevent, control, and eradicate them requires globally coordinated scientific and public health effort. At Edge Hill University, the BSc Global Infectious Disease is a three-year full-time programme delivered in partnership with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, a world-leading institution in infectious disease research, making this one of the most distinctive undergraduate programmes in the field.
The degree includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placement.
The programme develops your understanding of the biology of infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi, alongside the epidemiology and public health dimensions of how diseases spread, persist, and are controlled in human populations. You will engage with the scientific methods used to study infectious disease, including surveillance, outbreak investigation, clinical and field research, and the laboratory methods used to identify and characterise pathogens. The global dimension is central: you will study how infectious diseases affect different regions and populations differently, how poverty, conflict, and climate change interact with disease burden, and how international agencies and national health systems coordinate responses.
The partnership with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine gives you access to one of the world's leading research environments in this field.
Graduates of global infectious disease programmes work in public health, epidemiology, international health organisations, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, global health consultancy, NGOs, government health agencies, and academic research. Roles in outbreak response, disease surveillance, vaccine development, diagnostic testing, and health policy are all accessible to graduates with this specialist background. The international experience gained during the year abroad deepens both scientific understanding and professional preparation for work in low-income and middle-income country settings where infectious disease burden is highest.
Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in public health, epidemiology, tropical medicine, or virology.