- General welcome
We are delighted to welcome you to LSHTM and to the MSc Control of Infectious Diseases.
The programme provides access to multidisciplinary training in public health, epidemiology, health policy, field perspectives and aspects of laboratory sciences, in the context of disease control. Students accepted will have diverse backgrounds, some with extensive prior experience, others who are more recent graduates in medicine, bioscience or related subjects with only limited relevant work experience, all with a commitment to working on the control of infectious diseases. One of the great strengths of the programme is the student group itself, with a wealth of skills and experiences to draw on.
The coming year should be one of your most enjoyable and rewarding. LSHTM is a remarkable place, with an unusual breadth of opportunities, and with worldwide collaborations. Please be proactive and make the most of all LSHTM has to offer. Previous students from this programme are now scattered around the globe, making a real contribution to the improvement of international health. In a year, you will be joining this privileged group of graduates from the MSc Control of Infectious Diseases.
- Welcome Week
- Personal tutor allocation
Personal tutors
At the start of the programme, you will be allocated a personal tutor with whom you will meet regularly throughout the year. Where possible, we try to match personal tutors to the student’s background and areas of interest. To help us identify appropriate personal tutors for students, please complete our short questionnaire by Monday 21 September. The information in the form will be shared with your personal tutor.
- Reading list
There is no obligatory pre-programme reading for the MSc Control of Infectious Disease programme. The following books are suggested as potentially useful background or reference reading. They are not compulsory, and students are not expected to purchase or read all of them before arriving. Most should be available through the LSHTM Library. Webber provides an accessible general introduction, while Heymann is particularly useful as a practical disease-control reference. Students may find the other texts helpful depending on their previous training and areas of interest
Webber, R. Communicable Diseases: A Global Perspective, 6th edition gives a clear overview of transmission, epidemiology, prevention and control across a wide range of infections in the context of a global-health perspective.
Heymann, D. L. Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, 21st edition
An excellent practical reference organised by individual diseases. For each infection, it summarises the agent. It is particularly useful during outbreak exercises, assignments and project work, although it is more of a reference manual than a book to read sequentially.
Giesecke, J. Modern Infectious Disease Epidemiology, 3rd edition
A very useful bridge between general epidemiology and features of infectious-disease epidemiology. It covers transmission, surveillance, outbreak investigation, incubation periods, immunity, seroepidemiology, vaccine effectiveness and infection in populations, using practical examples and case studies. It is also included in LSHTM material for infectious-disease epidemiology teaching.
Moran, E. and Cooke, F. Oxford Handbook of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, 3rd edition.
Concise and accessible reference that connects microbiology, clinical infectious diseases, antimicrobials, infection prevention and health protection. It is less focused on population-level control than Webber or Giesecke, but is helpful for students who need to strengthen microbiological or clinical foundations
Page last updated August 2026