Human Biology and Infectious Diseases

Human biology and infectious diseases addresses one of the most pressing challenges in global health: understanding how pathogens cause disease and how the human body responds to them. Infectious diseases remain a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus the importance of understanding how viruses and bacteria spread, how immune systems fight them, and how human physiology is disrupted when they succeed. This degree sits at the junction of human physiology, immunology, microbiology, and epidemiology, giving you a comprehensive view of infectious disease from the molecular level to the population level.

At the University of Salford, this part-time degree is one of very few programmes outside medicine to bring together human physiology, immunology, and infectious disease in a single integrated programme. You will study how the human body functions and how its systems, particularly the immune system, respond to infection. You will examine the pathology and transmission of a wide range of infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, and explore the epidemiology of infectious diseases in both human and animal populations.

The part-time structure makes this degree accessible to students who are managing other commitments, and it is well suited to those already working in healthcare or life sciences settings.

You will develop scientific literacy, the ability to interpret epidemiological data, and a deep understanding of host-pathogen interactions that are relevant to careers in public health, clinical science, and biomedical research.

Graduates move into roles in public health agencies, hospital laboratories and infection control, pharmaceutical and vaccine development, environmental health, epidemiological research, and biomedical research organisations. The depth of knowledge in both human biology and infectious disease makes graduates well suited to postgraduate study in microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, or biomedical science, and many go on to research or clinical training programmes.