How Math Can Save Lives

If you ever sat in math class wondering, "What's the point?" you may want to check out a new math lecture series at Colby. In the "What Is" series, professors explore briefly a mathematical concept that offers insight on how math is involved in a less-than-obvious career field.
Epidemiology, for example. “What is Epidemiology?” was the title of a talk by Assistant Professor of Mathematics Jim Scott in November. After sharing snacks, students and faculty crammed into a classroom, eager to listen to a sampling of Scott’s experiences with epidemiology.

Loosely defined, epidemiology is the study of disease—the who, what, when, where, why, and how. Epidemiology is the basic science of public health, which aims to "prevent disease, prolong life, and promote health at population level," Scott said. Why study disease? he asked. "The global death rate is still one-hundred percent." The epidemiologist’s job is to analyze and observe in order to "maximize the amount of time people are healthy."

Epidemiologists, he said, describe disease, investigate outbreaks, and design and implement interventions. Disease isn’t randomly distributed amongst the population. Risk factors target more susceptible groups. Therefore, treatment on a patient-by-patient basis is less efficient than intervention or a long-lasting treatment for the group as a whole. Epidemiology and public health should work together, Scott said.

Don’t doctors do the same thing? No, Scott said. The goals of medicine and the goals of public health are different. Medicine assesses a patient’s health and provides a one-time treatment regimen. If the patient is cured, then all is well. Public health, on the other hand, with the help of information provided by epidemiology, assesses disease across a population and how it can be prevented or managed in different groups in the population. Policies are then developed to treat the entire population and to assure services that are available to everyone.

This spring Scott will offer a course Topics in Epidemiology. Students expressed interest not only in enrolling, but in researching organizations he discussed in his talk—local and national disease surveillance initiatives and the World Health Organization—in hopes of learning about trends and recent disease outbreaks.

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