The Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) is part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Division. IDM’s goal is to support global efforts to eradicate infectious diseases and achieve permanent improvements in health by developing, using, and sharing computational modeling tools and promoting quantitative decision-making.
Our strategy
IDM works on disease transmission dynamics for malaria, measles, polio, tuberculosis, HIV, pneumonia, typhoid, COVID-19, and many other diseases. Other areas of study include maternal, newborn, and child health conditions and interventions; health delivery strategies; health system access and effectiveness; family planning interventions; genomic surveillance; pathogen evolution; drug resistance; and other health-related phenomena.
We believe that collaboration can magnify the impact of our work, so we work to build collaborations with partners worldwide, including universities, NGOs, government ministries, and other research and public health institutions to achieve positive, important, and long-lasting impacts on the health of people most in need.
To achieve our goals, we cultivate deep expertise in the topics we work on and we develop customized high-fidelity and high-performance computer models and other quantitative methodologies. Our dedicated software team develops the tools researchers at IDM and our collaborating institutions need to answer policy questions, inform investments, and achieve our long-term research goals. These tools are flexible, fast, and robust. This software is open source and is made freely available to the global scientific community.
Why focus on quantitative methodologies?
Modeling and other quantitative methods benefit the entire global health community by providing new insight into old problems, testing novel combinations of strategies, and enabling the collection of more valuable data in the field. IDM’s focus began with malaria eradication and has expanded to include multiple diseases, health care programs, and associated systems that are priorities of the foundation. Our advancements in modeling provide powerful, state-of-the-art guidance and information for public health workers and institutions around the world.
Improvement of health, including the control and eradication of infectious diseases, strengthening operational and health delivery strategies, and enabling equitable access to care, is a pressing and complex problem that engages diverse contributors, from health workers on the ground to funding agencies that provide resources and support. Data modeling and statistical analysis make fundamental contributions that inform intervention strategies, resource allocation, and research into the causes and transmission of disease.
We collaborate with universities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), government ministries, and other research and public health institutions to find new ways to understand and combat diseases. If you are interested in collaborating with us, please contact [email protected].
Join us!
Through our research, IDM shapes global efforts to eradicate infectious disease and to achieve permanent improvements in the health of those most in need. We are proud to be an embedded research institute in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve.