Target level of study
BAC +5
ECTS
120 credits
Duration
2 years
Training structure
Faculty of Science
Language(s) of instruction
French, English
Presentation
Epidemics and emerging diseases linked to pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, eukaryotic parasites) have been on the rise in recent decades. Recent outbreaks of SARS, Ebola, Zika and highly pathogenic avian influenza have been compounded by the COVID 19 and Swine Fever epidemics. But we mustn't forget the resurgence of measles, the antibiotic resistance of tuberculosis bacilli, the increasingly tenacious pressure of hospital-acquired diseases, or the still worrying presence of malaria, dengue fever and anthrax...
This increase in "cases" is the result of many complex phenomena: human density(s), degradation of natural ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, overexploitation, intensive livestock farming, urbanization, artificialization of environments, climate change, pollution(s), globalization of human and commercial exchanges, inappropriate use of antibiotics, ill-adapted healthcare, reduced vaccination coverage, poverty... These changes and imbalances are therefore of diverse and varied origins. The study or management of these epidemic phenomena therefore requires the involvement of a variety of skills and different levels of analysis, and thus an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach (ecology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, parasitology, statistics, computer science, geomatics, geography, as well as sociology, economics, anthropology, etc.). The eco-evolutionary perspective facilitates this synthesis by placing analyses of underlying biological phenomena in population, spatial and temporal dimensions.
Training benefits
1/The Eco-EPI specialization has received support from the MUSE e-site via funding for the Eco-Epidemiology of Animal and Human Pathogens Comprehensive and Utilitarian Resources -EpiCURe project (Call for projects Take Off #3: Cursus - ACCOMPANYING THE TRANSFORMATION AND/OR CREATION OF CURSUSES). This project involves the implementation of a data collection platform built up by successive classes of students in the specialization. It will be coupled with a set of web services to exploit the stored data. Thanks to this cross-disciplinary, decompartmentalizing tool, based on the complete M1 and M2 pedagogical framework, students will be able to "take in hand" the scientific content and knowledge to be acquired during their Master's degree. This platform will capitalize on the knowledge acquired and synthesized in a cooperative approach by students, the teaching team, research and operational players in the field. The accumulated knowledge will be perpetuated, exploited and disseminated in French and English, beyond the mention and the university, giving national and international visibility to the training in Eco-epidemiology of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases and the training associated with the project (Bio-Informatics, Geomatics).
2/ In autumn 2021, two apprenticeship applications are planned: one for the M2 GS pathway (mainly aimed at health monitoring services), and the second as a specific M2 pathway (aimed at pharmacy interns who are heads of clinics and R&D staff at pharmaceutical companies).
Objectives
The aim of the Eco-EPI master's program is to train experts capable of meeting the challenges of the emergence and epidemiological management of human and/or animal pathogens in the context of current and future changes. Upon graduation, they will be able to
- future epidemiological researchers aware of socio-economic contexts and issues
- future managers aware of scientific data.
The "multi-disciplinary and integrative scientific approach" that characterizes the training program is indispensable to the challenges facing our contemporary societies. Graduates of this specialization, whether researchers, experts or managers, will be "involved" scientists, playing a full part in the various stages of these challenges.
Know-how and skills
Graduates of the Eco-EPI specialization are able to analyze and study (research) or identify (management) the factors behind the emergence of parasitic and infectious diseases, i.e. :
- ecological cycles and transmission dynamics
- evolutionary and molecular mechanisms favoring epidemics, emergence and/or host changes
- eco-environmental factors favoring epidemics and/or emergence
- socio-economic factors favouring epidemics and/or emergencies
- the relative risks associated with each of these factors in each case of epidemic and/or emergence
To implement their research or management/monitoring program, they master disciplinary skills and tools in a variety of fields, including
- biological and ecological sciences (including evolutionary biology) focusing on pathogen-induced diseases
- mathematical sciences (statistics and modeling) and computer sciences focused on epidemiological data collection and analysis (databases, GIS, etc.)
- applied human sciences focusing on emergence factors, risks and management: sociology, economics, political governance, law (through organizations and institutions), risk identification and management...
They know how to independently implement a scientific approach, with a prospective research or organizational monitoring or control objective, adapting it to a specific context, and integrating information of various kinds.
They master project management and collaborative work with a variety of partners and contacts.
They are able to disseminate results to different audiences and make recommendations.
For more information, please refer to the specific skills for each pathway.
Organization
Knowledge control
Defined at the level of each Teaching Unit: Final assessment, or Continuous assessment, or Oral, Individual or group.
Assessment of internships is a specific form of continuous assessment: - assessment of a report or dissertation - oral presentation to a jury
Special features
- M1 specific to 4th-year research pharmacy students, to focus training on skills not covered in their previous curriculum
- M2 apprenticeship (currently being set up and awaiting approval): alternating on-campus study periods with internship periods.
Open on a sandwich basis
Under construction
Work-study arrangements
Application in progress. Opening planned September 2022
- The Gestion et Surveillance des Émergences Parasitaires et Infectieuses - GS-EPI (Management and Monitoring of Parasitic and Infectious Outbreaks) course will offer a version adapted to M2 apprenticeships.
- A specific M2 apprenticeship program (Eco-Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases and Parasites - apprenticeship), with a research focus, in response to the need for integrative skills among future healthcare professionals (pharmacists, intern doctors) or future R&D managers in pharmaceutical companies.
Program
The course offers two main specializations:
- the Étude Intégrative des Emergences Parasitaires et Infectieuses - EI-EPI (Integrative Study of Parasitic and Infectious Emergencies) course is designed to enable students to pursue a thesis in fundamental, applied or targeted research;
- the GS-EPI (Gestion et Surveillance des Emergences Parasitaires et Infectieuses - Management and Surveillance of Parasitic and Infectious Emergencies) course has an applied and operational vocation, and will offer an M2 apprenticeship in 2022.
These two courses will be supplemented during accreditation by a M2 course specifically designed for apprenticeships (Eco-Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases and Parasites - apprenticeship), with a research focus, in response to the need for integrative skills among future healthcare professionals (pharmacists, intern doctors) or future R&D managers in pharmaceutical companies.
Year 1 is mainly a common year for the two courses in the specialization, with a predominantly common core curriculum in M1 semester 1 (26 ECTS/30) and a free option to explore specific fields and issues in greater depth.
The choice of pathway is made in M2, but it is prepared for as early as semester 2 of M1, by choosing an orientation option that provides more in-depth elements in the research or management approach. It will also be prepared by choosing the theme of the internship or in-depth tutored project.
Irrespective of whether the goal is to enter the workforce as a researcher or an operational engineer, and hence the choice of M2, there are four main areas of specialization. These specializations are not hermetically sealed themes, but present interfaces. They are as follows
- Zoonoses and animal diseases
- Vector-borne diseases
- Global changes
- Artificialization, modern technologies and therapeutics
This specialization is developed as early as M1 S2, during thematic projects, the internship or the Advanced Tutored Project. It will be deepened by the choice of courses in M2S3 and the M2 internship.
Select a program
Integrative Study of Parasitic and Infectious Emergencies (EI-EPI)
The Integrative Study of Parasitic and Infectious Emergences (EI-EPI) course is part of the Eco-Epidemiology master's program, which aims to train experts capable of meeting the challenges posed by contemporary epidemiological phenomena.
Epidemics and emerging diseases linked to pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, eukaryotic parasites) have been on the increase in recent decades. This phenomenon is the result of complex, multiple factors of varied origins: human density(s), degradation of natural ecosystems, degradation of biodiversity, overexploitation, intensive livestock farming, urbanization, artificialization of environments, climate change, pollution(s), globalization of human and commercial exchanges, inappropriate use of antibiotics, ill-adapted care, reduced vaccination coverage, poverty...
The study or management of these epidemic phenomena therefore requires the involvement of a variety of skills and different levels of analysis, and thus an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach (ecology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, parasitology, statistics, computer science, geomatics, geography, as well as sociology, economics, anthropology, etc.). The eco-evolutionary perspective facilitates this synthesis by placing analyses of underlying biological phenomena in population, spatial and temporal dimensions.
Management and Surveillance of Parasitic and Infectious Emergencies (GS-EPI)
The Gestion et Surveillance des Emergences Parasitaires et Infectieuses - GS-EPI (Management and Surveillance of Parasitic and Infectious Emergencies) course is part of the Eco-Epidemiology master's degree, which aims to train experts capable of meeting the challenges posed by contemporary epidemiological phenomena.
Epidemics and emerging diseases linked to pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, eukaryotic parasites) have been on the increase in recent decades. This phenomenon is the result of complex, multiple factors of varied origins: human density(s), degradation of natural ecosystems, degradation of biodiversity, overexploitation, intensive livestock farming, urbanization, artificialization of environments, climate change, pollution(s), globalization of human and commercial exchanges, inappropriate use of antibiotics, ill-adapted care, reduced vaccination coverage, poverty...
The study or management of these epidemic phenomena therefore requires the involvement of a variety of skills and different levels of analysis, and thus an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach (ecology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, parasitology, statistics, computer science, geomatics, geography, as well as sociology, economics, anthropology, etc.). The eco-evolutionary perspective facilitates this synthesis by placing analyses of underlying biological phenomena in population, spatial and temporal dimensions.
Infectious and parasitic eco-epidemiology - apprenticeship (Eco-EPI App)
IDIL- Eco-EPIdemiology of Emerging Diseases (Eco-EPIED)
The Eco-Epidemiology of Emerging Diseases Eco-EPIED master's degree is a response to the contemporary challenge of emerging infectious and parasitic diseases in human and animal populations.
In light of the ecological, environmental and evolutionary analysis of these phenomena, this multidisciplinary program offers a synthetic approach. It integrates all the relevant scientific skills and tools (including biology, statistics, bioinformatics and human science concepts) into different contexts and concrete public health needs. In this way, Eco-EPIED is a One Health program dedicated to research and its concrete applications.
Recognized Montpellier research units dedicated to the analysis and control of emerging diseases support the program. It also involves experts from international organizations, public health agencies, pharmaceutical laboratories and non-governmental organizations.
This interdisciplinary training program is open first and foremost to students with a degree in life sciences, health sciences and 4th year pharmacy or human medicine. Secondarily, students holding a degree in Geography and Development, Social Sciences, Health and Social Sciences (their integration will be validated on the basis of complementary training elements indicating their ability to rapidly acquire skills in the so-called "hard" sciences). Nevertheless, all students must have a strong interest in the biology/ecology of pathogens, communicable diseases and epidemiology. And their academic and non-academic backgrounds should attest to their openness to a transdisciplinary approach including bioinformatics, statistics and the human sciences. Proficiency in scientific English (B2 level) is required. Autonomy and the ability to work as part of a team are also required.
Examples of teaching units :
- Écologie et Évolution des Microorganismes and Parasitisme
- Transmission : études de cas
- Risques, Analyse de risque et Surveillance
- Bio-informatique et bases de données
- Étude de la Variabilité
Admission
Target audience
For M1 entry, students from :
- Life Sciences or Life and Earth Sciences bachelor's degrees, in particular the following specializations: Ecology and Organismal Biology, Organismal and Population Biology, Environmental Sciences, Microbiology, Cell Biology and Physiology, and Biology of the Environment: Ecology and Organismal Biology, Organismal and Population Biology, Environmental Sciences, Microbiology, Cell Biology and Physiology,
- Health Sciences bachelor's degrees
- Biology and Humanity licenses (Catholic universities)....,
- students in their 4th year of pharmacy or human medicine.
- Secondarily, students from bachelor's degrees in Geography and Planning, Social Sciences, Health and Social Sciences[1]. Their integration will be validated on the basis of additional elements in their file indicating their ability to rapidly acquire certain elements of the so-called "hard" sciences.
M2 entry:
- by right, students who have completed the M1 Eco-EPI
- reorientation students from M1 Biology, Biology-Health, Health, Life Sciences, Public Health, Microbiology, Nutrition and Food Sciences, Biology-Agro Sciences, Agrosciences, Environment, Territories, Landscape, Forest, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Risks and Environment, Teaching, Education and Training Professions (MEEF),2nd degree. Their integration will be assessed on the basis of the M1 prerequisites essential for continuation in M2 Eco-EPI, the coherence between their training project and the objectives of the specialization, and on the basis of potential vacancies in relation to intake capacity.
- 6th-year veterinary students with a career plan focused on "One Health" epidemiological surveillance or research (under the same conditions as those listed above).
- In continuing education, and especially in alternating years (if validated by the CFA)
- health monitoring personnel (often from Masters programs focusing on human sciences)[2].
- pharmacists and physicians undergoing internships in response to the need for integrative skills among future healthcare professionals
- students at Master 1 level in Pharmacology, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, planning to become R&D managers in pharmaceutical companies in the field of infectious and parasitic epidemics
[1] For a priori continuation in M2 "management and monitoring".
[2] To continue in M2 "management and monitoring".
Capacity
30 students per training year
Necessary prerequisites
Imposed by the entry level (see Target audience), the specific terms of initial, continuing or sandwich training, and the M2 course envisaged or chosen. This mainly involves
- a bachelor's degree in biological and environmental sciences, or its equivalent, for entry into M1;
- Master's level 1 in biological and peri-biological sciences, or their equivalent, in M2, including fundamental knowledge of pathogens or diseases of infectious and parasitic origin.
For entry into M1, "knowledge" at L3 level or equivalent in at least 2 of these fields.
- Organismal biology
- Physiology
- Cellular and molecular biology
- Ecology
- Evolutionary biology
- Parasitology
- Microbiology
For entry into M2, knowledge at M1 level or equivalent is required in the biology of the main pathogenic organisms and in at least 2 of the following fields
- Physiology, Immunology
- Cellular and molecular biology
- Infectious processes
- Infectious and parasitic pathologies
- Antibiotic therapy and anti-infectious drugs
- General ecology
- Parasitic ecology
- Microbial ecology
- Health ecology
- Evolutionary biology and/or conservation biology
- Parasitology
- Microbiology
- Vector Entomology
- Descriptive epidemiology (statistics)
- Modeling
- Health risk management
- Public health policy
- Epidemiological surveillance
Recommended prerequisites
For entry into M1,
- L1-L2 level knowledge in at least 1 of these fields
- Bio-Statistics
- IT (database, GIS)
- Basic knowledge, even if self-taught, in 1 or 2 of the following areas can be invaluable
- Breeding systems
- Economy
- Sociology
- Anthropology
- Regional planning
- Environmental management
- Conservation biology
For M2 entry
- M1-level knowledge in at least 1 of these fields (initial training)
- Bio-Statistics
- IT (database, GIS)
- Knowledge (professional experience, internships, studies, extracurricular experience) in 1 or 2 of the following areas
- Human/animal genetics
- Human or veterinary health
- Biotechnologies for diagnosis and prevention (treatments, vaccines, etc.)
- Livestock breeding and production systems
- Economy and trade globalization
- Participatory science
- Sociology /Anthropology
- Development aid
- Humanitarian aid
- Regional planning
- Environmental management
And then
Further studies
Graduates of the EI-EPI Integrative Study of Parasitic and Infectious Emergencies pathway aim to pursue a thesis in fundamental, applied or finalized research.
Although the Master's program leads primarily to a 5-year post-graduate diploma, some graduates of the GS-EPI Management and Surveillance of Parasitic and Infectious Emergences program can go on to write a thesis, focusing on research at the disciplinary interface, in surveillance or management.
Studying abroad
Continuation of studies abroad: Yes (see Continuation of studies)
Professional integration
Careers: Researcher in eco-epidemiology and related fields, expert eco-epidemiologist, epidemiological monitoring officer, health watch officer, surveillance network coordinator (including animal diseases), epidemiological risk management consultant, etc.
Insertion: Research organizations/institutes, universities, international organizations, national management and monitoring organizations, monitoring institutes, monitoring networks, R&D pharmaceutical companies, etc.