Recent increased attention to the U.S. and international public health systems, as well as the medical research and treatment infrastructure, has revealed significant deficiencies in their capacity to respond to infectious diseases. Medical and public health professionals may be poorly equipped to detect, diagnose, and treat common infectious diseases as well as those diseases that pose an unexpected threat.

In considering strategies to confront these challenges, a workshop was held June 12-13, 2003, in which presentations and discussion addressed the practical application of technologies, methodologies, and practices related to infectious disease surveillance, prevention, research, and control. This report is a summary of that workshop. Particular emphasis was given to

• the application of new and developing technologies that will redefine the infectious disease workforce,
• collaborative training programs between public health and medical health care and research institutions in the US and abroad,
• the reorientation of medical school curricula,
• incentive-driven systems that encourage professional development in these fields, and
• the role of public education and communication.

Some key disciplines that were explored as case-study examinations included public health epidemiology, medical entomology, vaccinology, bioethics, and bioengineering.