*An important area of complexity in the representation and modeling of infectious diseases relates to the contribution of social connectedness (via family ties, sexual partnerships, travel, or commercial activity) to disease spread. Sexual network structures have been identified as a particularly important contributor to the ongoing endemnicity of theoretically eradicable diseases, such as syphilis, but these networks also provide a potential framework for innovative disease control strategies (e.g., via patient-delivered partner therapy for STDs). What is the current state of network models in the representation of disease transmission, and what is the potential for such models to provide insights into persistence of diseases that are projected to be eradicable using other modeling approaches? 

*The association between infectious diseases and public panic has been documented since Thyucidides' account of the great plague of Athens. More recently, there is an emerging understanding that human beliefs and behaviours play a critical role, both positive and negative, in changing practices and contact patterns underlying disease spread. How can behavioral responses to infectious diseases be predicted, and possibly controlled in order to facilitate disease elimination?