Epidemiology

• SPH EP 854: Advanced Epidemiology
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH EP 770 or SPH 813; AND SPH BS 723 or SPH BS 730. - This course covers the theory and application of key principles and methods of epidemiologic research in depth. The topics include causal models, confounding, randomization, selection bias, information bias, interaction, mediation, statistical analysis and inference, and causal inference. Guidance is offered for determining objectives and strategies in study design and analysis, including for case-control research. Methods are presented for the assessment and control of confounding, misclassification bias, and selection bias. Special emphasis is given to the limitations of standard methods for dealing with various sources of bias and novel methods for reducing bias are detailed. In addition, there is a focus on the meaning and interpretation of p-values, confidence intervals, and likelihoods.
• SPH EP 855: Advanced Epidemiology Seminar: Issues in Study Design
  Graduate Prerequisites: Primarily for epidemiology doctoral students. MPH, MS, and other doctoral students must have completed EP854 and have consent of the instructor. - At its essence, epidemiology comprises a set of tools for answering questions in public health. This seminar-style course, based on a guided discussion of historical and recent papers, is intended to deepen students’ knowledge of study design so that they can better recognize and hopefully either avoid or reduce the influence of common, but at times under-appreciated, sources of biases in research question formulation, measurement, effect estimation, and interpretation. We ground the course in revisiting the mission of epidemiology and surveying the theoretical frameworks that underpin research questions in public health, e.g., what gets asked, who is enrolled, what gets measured, what adjustments are made. Example topics include study efficiency, measures of effect, random error, misclassification, casual diagrams, direct and indirect effects, and collider bias. Each topic entails reading and student-led discussions of methodological papers. Students also develop skills in writing and speaking through classroom discussion, writing assignments, and a written exam.
• SPH EP 857: Design and Conduct of Cohort Studies
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHBS723 & SPHBS730) AND SPH EP 770 or SPH EP 813 or SPH EP 854. - This is a third-level epidemiologic methods course intended for advanced Masters and Doctoral students who desire to build depth and nuance in their understanding of cohort study design and conduct, including how to develop novel questions in existing cohort studies. This course defines cohort broadly, covering well-established cohort studies and novel cohort data sources. For each topic, methodologic readings will be linked back to concrete examples of cohort study design, with special emphasis on practicality.
• SPH EP 858: Design and Conduct of Case-Control Studies
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHEP770 OR SPHEP813 OR SPHEP854) AND SPHBS723 or SPHBS730 - This is a third-level epidemiologic methods course intended for advanced Masters and Doctoral students who desire to build depth in their understanding of case-control studies. This course will develop knowledge of their design, analytic issues, challenges, and strengths, from a practical standpoint and associated theoretical framework, including identification of a study base, selection of cases and controls, collection of exposure information, consideration of sources of bias, and approaches to control for confounding. Students design their own case-control study, step-by-step in parallel with the course material. Published papers will be used to illustrate design, bias, and analytic issues through reading and discussion. Each class includes a lecture and discussion of assigned articles.
• SPH EP 859: Advanced Methods in Reproductive, Perinatal, and Pediatric Epidemiology
  This course will expand on the foundational concepts of epidemiology, epidemiologic data analysis, and introductory content in reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric (RPP) epidemiology. Students will delve into the intricacies of study design, exposure and outcome assessment, and analytic methods that deal with the unique challenges to reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric epidemiology. Most notably, the challenges that arise when dealing with two units of observation (e.g. pregnant person and fetus). Advanced methods to address bias quantitatively, including inverse probability weighting and bias analyses, will also be explored. Special considerations regarding recruitment and conduct of research among protected populations will be discussed. This course will utilize existing datasets housed with the Department of Epidemiology, including a prospective cohort of pregnancy planners, electronic medical record data of pregnant and postpartum patients, and a case-control study of risk factors for stillbirth and birth defects, to provide students with a hands-on application of epidemiologic methods. The course will culminate with a project in which students will apply advanced methods to a research question in RPP epidemiology and draft components of a manuscript in accordance with peer-reviewed publication guidelines. SAS or R proficiency is required.
• SPH EP 860: Novel Analytical Methods for Epidemiology
  Graduate Prerequisites: Doctoral level standing; must have completed EP854 and have SAS programming skills equivalent to BS805 or above. - This course is intended to introduce doctoral students to several advanced methods in data analysis, with the aim of providing students with the ability to recognize situations in which the use of such methods may be beneficial, knowledge of the basic methods needed to conduct analyses, and an understanding of the strengths and limitations of each method. The course covers approximately five to six analytic methods in a series of 2- or 3-session modules. Topics may vary slightly in different semesters; examples of the types of methods covered include propensity scores, marginal structural models, simulation methods, quantitative bias analysis, instrumental variables, machine learning and Bayesian analysis. Hands-on sessions in the classroom, homework assignments, and a final data analysis project provide students with practice in the conduct of analyses using these methods.
• SPH EP 861: Quantitative Bias Analysis Methods for Epidemiologic Research
  Graduate Prerequisites: SPH EP854 and SAS at the level of SPH BS805 - This course covers a novel approach to dealing with systematic error in epidemiologic research called quantitative bias analysis. Quantitative bias analysis allows users account for sources of systematic error analytically rather than through speculation on the impact. Quantitative bias analysis allows users to make adjustments to measures of effect for confounding, information bias and selection bias by making assumptions (informed by data typically using validation studies) about the nature of the bias to bias-adjusted point estimates and create uncertainty intervals that account for total study error. The course will cover three types of bias analysis: simple, multidimensional and probabilistic. Exercises in Excel and SAS/R will allow students to practice the methods, adapt them to problems they face and present the results clearly.
• SPH EP 862: Simulated Problems for Learning Epidemiology (SimPLE)
  Graduate Prerequisites: Successful completion of EP854 (or permission of instructor for PhD students not in the department of epidemiology). Competency in SAS as demonstrated by successful completion of EP815, EP817, BS805, - This course will challenge students to think more deeply about the epidemiologic concepts they have learned in their methods courses and provide them with the skills to conduct simulation studies to be able to further their understanding of these concepts. Students will learn to simulate datasets from a directed acyclic graph (DAG) describing the problem or phenomenon of interest and learn how to vary the parameters of the simulation to gain a deeper insight into the problem. Students will also learn to derive the answers to questions about epidemiologic methods in cases where they do not know how to solve the problem analytically. This is a hands-on course where we spend most of the time programming simulations and discussing what we learn from them and many of the questions we seek to answer are ones posed by students in class.
• SPH EP 911: Directed Studies in Epidemiology
  Directed Studies provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a SPH faculty member. Students may register for a 1, 2, 3, or 4-credit directed study. Arrangements are made directly with a full time SPH faculty member. Studies to be completed with an adjunct faculty member must be approved by and assigned to the Department chairperson. Students must complete a paper registration form and have a directed study proposal form signed by the faculty member with whom they are working. Section numbers are assigned by the SPH Registrar's Office. Students are limited to eight (8) credits of directed study, directed research or practicum during their MPH education.
• SPH EP 912: Directed Research in Epidemiology
  Directed Research provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a full-time SPH faculty member. Students may register for 1, 2, 3, or 4 credits. To register, students must submit a paper registration form and signed directed research proposal form. Students are placed in a section by the Registrar's Office according to the faculty member with whom they are working. Students may take no more than eight credits of directed study, directed research, or practica courses during their MPH education.
• SPH EP 980: Continuing Study
  Graduate Prerequisites: MS or doctoral candidates in Epidemiology who have completed all academic course requirements for degree and are completing their thesis or dissertation. - PhD in Epidemiology students who have completed all academic course requirements, must register for Continuing Study every Fall and Spring semester until they have successfully defended their theses/dissertations and have graduated from SPH. Students are charged the equivalent of two credits of tuition, student health insurance, and all relevant fees, and are certified as full time.