Issues in Hemispheric Health and Food Security (1Cr)
This course will include the four introductory lecture-discussions during the first assembly at LSU, a final lecture-discussion on ‘WHO’s Great Neglected Tropical Disease’s by Dr Bergquist and an examination at re-assembly in the final week. In the interim, five field trips will be taken, with a lecture-discussion on each topic, to provide first-hand experience with operations of key state agencies. Outside readings will be assigned; Date/Time TBA.

Feb      CDC/State Public Health Protection Systems in the US
           (Field Trip - Office of Public Health) TBA (MN)
Mar      Food Safety and Food Security
           (Field Trip-Office of the State/Federal Veterinarian) TBA (MN)
Mar      Disasters and Health
           (Field trip- State Environmental Protection Agency or FEMA)
Apr      The ‘Political Diseases’: Impact on Hemispheric
           Trade and Policy
           (Field Trip: Ag Economist/State Office of Economic            Development)
May     Hemispheric Conservation Medicine: A New Politics              
           (Field Trip - ACRES in LA; MN TBA)

Geospatial Health and Environment (3Cr)
Instructors: Malone/Scribner/Namwamba/McCarroll/Nieto/Wiles
This course is the same in content as that offered in the LSU graduate school and the LSUHSC School of Public Health (3Cr). There are 12 Lessons, each with1-2 hours of exercise instruction (hands-on computer), and a 3- hour guided self-study laboratory. Eight lessons will be given at Initial Assembly in Baton Rouge in January. The remaining lessons and the final reports will take place during final re-assembly in Baton Rouge in May. Students will develop a GIS project during the semester and report results at re-assembly. Students required to provide laptop computer. ArcGIS software provided.

Tuesday, January 9
8:00 am    Medical Information Systems: Linking Medical Records to a                 Spatial Data Infrastructure - Case Studies
9:00 am    Lesson 1 Elements of the MMDb and Construction of                 Projects
1:00 pm    Lesson 2 Health Data Preparation
Wednesday, January 10
8:00 am    Lesson 3 Acquiring Satellite Data: AVHRR, MODIS, Landsat,                ASTER
1:00 pm    Lesson 4 Working with Satellite Data and Grid Data in                 ArcGIS
Thursday, January 11
8:00 am     Lesson 5 Buffer Extractions, Map Queries, and Point-Poly                  Extractions
1:00 pm     Lesson 6 Climate risk Analysis
Friday, January12
8:00 am     Lesson 7 GIS Environmental Risk Model: Schistosomiasis in                  Brazil
1:00 pm     Lesson 8 GIS in Disease Outbreak Management: Rift Valley                  Fever
Friday, January12
7:00 pm     Evening Social – Dr Malone’s Residence
Sunday, January 14
UMN Students Travel to St Paul

Application of Principles: Understanding the Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases (1Cr)
Instructor: Bender (schedule to be arranged)
>Overview of zoonotic diseases: ‘Playing the Zoonosis Card’
>Emerging diseases in animals and their impact on human   health
>Emerging viruses and factors for emergence
>Animal husbandry practices and the emergence of zoonotic
  disease agents
>Vectors of disease transmission
>Antibiotic resistance and the food chain
>Role of weather and emergence of infectious diseases
>Social and ecologic factors and disease emergence
>Weaponization of zoonotic diseases
>Zoonotic and vector-borne disease surveillance systems
>Class presentations
>Class presentations
>Examination

Mentored Projects (3-4Cr)
Students will be matched with a faculty mentor based on similarity of interests in the Fall of 2006. They will together develop a 3-page workplan for a research project in the mentor’s laboratory on a health topic of hemispheric importance. Workplans will be submitted for approval by the project director’s panel by December 1, 2006 and should be consistent with project objectives. Final reports will include: 1) Objectives, Introduction, Results and Discussion of projects, 2) a comprehensive literature review and bibliography, and 3) GIS-based digital maps on the epidemiology of the disease of interest. The latter can be an integral part of research workplans, the central objective of the project, or simply a part of the literature review (eg. maps of literature reports). Students will turn in a powerpoint presentation and a written report, in journal format.

Re-Assembly - at LSU
May 15 am   Project Report Writing/GIS Data Entry
            pm   WHO’s ‘Great Neglected Tropical Diseases’                    (Bergquist)
May 16 am   Lesson 9. ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst &                    GeoDa
            pm   Project Report Writing/GIS Data Entry
May 17 am   Lesson 10. Ecological Niche Modeling using                    GARP
            pm   Project Report Writing/GIS Data Entry
                   Lesson 11. Layouts and Presentations
May 18 am   Lesson 12. Project Presentations
            pm   Post-Test; Essay Examination; Program                    Evaluation (Panel)
May19 pm    Farewell Dinner Party – Dr Malone’s Residence –                    7:00PM
May 21-22    Return Trip to Brazil