Modeling the Impact of Policy Options during Public Health Crises (08w5043)

This workshop to be held at the Banff International Research Station on July 27 - Aug 1, 2008 aims to facilitate discussion and collaboration between health policy decision-makers and mathematical modelers having advised or desiring to advise health policymakers. The proposed activity may create opportunities to develop sound public policy in preparation for or response to merging/reimerging infectious diseases. We believe a workshop in a setting conducive to discussion of the benefits of collaboration would repay dividends during future public health crises. We hope that interactions between experienced and willing collaborators in this setting will lead to significant partnerships between modelers and policymakers.

The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is a collaborative Canada-US-Mexico venture that provides an environment for creative interaction as well as the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and methods within the Mathematical Sciences, with related disciplines and with industry. The research station is located at The Banff Centre in Alberta and is supported by Canada's Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the US National Science Foundation (NSF), Alberta's Advanced Education and Technology, and Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí­a (CONACYT).