Courses
The course descriptions below are correct to the best of our knowledge as of August 2012. Instructors reserve the right to update and/or otherwise alter course descriptions as necessary after publication. The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. The Course Rotation Guide lists the expected semester a course will be taught. Paper copies are also available in the BUSPH Registrar’s office. Please refer to the published schedule of classes for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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SPH BS 858: Statistical Genetics I
This course covers a variety of statistical applications to human genetic data, including collection and data management of genetic and family history information, and statistical techniques used to identify genes contributing to disease and quantitative traits in humans. Specific topics include basic population genetics, linkage analysis and genetic association analyses with related and unrelated individuals. -
SPH BS 859: Applied Genetic Analysis
Statistical tools such as linkage and association analysis are used to unravel the genetic component of complex disease. Investigators interested in the genetic analysis of complex traits need a basic understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these methodologies. This course will provide the student with practical, applied experience in performing linkage and association analyses, including genome-wide analyses. Special emphasis is placed on understanding assumptions and issues related to statistical methodologies for genetic analysis to identify genes influencing complex traits. Students will use specialized genetics software for homework assignments. -
SPH BS 860: Statistical Genetics II
This course covers current topics in statistical genetics, with emphasis on how statistical techniques can be used with various types of genetics data for mapping genes responsible/contributing to complex human diseases. Topics such as genetics map functions, gene mapping in experimental organisms, advanced linkage analysis methods, statistical approaches for the analysis of genome-wide high density SNP scans in unrelated and family samples will be discussed. -
SPH BS 861: Applied Statistics in Clinical Trials II
This course covers a variety of biostatistical topics in clinical trials, including presentation of statistical results to regulatory agencies for product approval, analysis of safety data, intent-to-treat analyses and handling of missing data, interim analyses and adaptive designs, and analyses of multiple endpoints. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to make and defend decisions for many study designs and for issues faced when analyzing efficacy and safety data from clinical trials. Students will also be able to present, in a written format following standard guidelines accepted by the clinical trials' community, results of such efficacy and safety analyses to the medical reviewers and statistical reviewers of regulatory agencies. -
SPH BS 980: Continuing Study in Biostatistics
Doctoral students in Biostatistics register each summer and fall for Continuing Study in Biostatistics until they have graduated from their doctoral program. Students will participate in a dissertation workshop and other activities while they are preparing their dissertation. Students are charged for 2 credits equivalent of tuition and for medical insurance. They are certified full time. Students must be registered for this course at GRS. -
SPH EH 710: Physiologic Principles for Public Health
This course provides students with a detailed working knowledge of the normal mechanisms of human body function. Physiological mechanisms are studied from the molecular level to the level of organ systems, and emphasis is placed on understanding how body processes are regulated and integrated so as to achieve homeostasis characteristic of a ?normal? healthy individual. Students will become acquainted with both the gross and histological anatomy of major organs. For each system covered, a case study of a disease of significant public health interest is used to reinforce basic physiological principles, and to acquaint students with physiological measurements commonly used in clinical settings. This course is recommended for all students who need a substantive understanding of human physiology for subsequent coursework. This course will be of special value to students whom expect their career?s to involve close interaction with health care providers. -
SPH EH 713: Molecular Biology and Public Health
The last 10 years has seen an explosion in the discipline of molecular biology that has important implications for our current and future approach to public health. Therefore, an understanding of the principal concepts of this field is critical to the modern public health practitioner. The goal of this course is to equip students with the ability to understand the potential applications of genetic engineering to their health specialties. In particular, the course introduces the student to the basic concepts of cellular biology and molecular genetics and investigates the use of a number of powerful molecular techniques including, but not limited to, gene cloning, genetic engineering of animals and plants, identification of molecular bio-markers of susceptibility, and mining of the human genome database. The implications of these advances vis-a-vis right to privacy, discrimination, and other ethical issues are also addressed. While a background in biology is helpful, this course is negotiable by any student showing a high level of enthusiasm for scientific discovery. -
SPH EH 717: Foundations of Environmental Health
EH717 is the introductory core course that focuses on assessment and control of a broad range of physical, chemical, and biological factors in the natural and built environment that affect the health of individuals and populations. EH717 addresses an array of environmental issues including emergency preparedness; food safety and regulation; electromagnetic radiation; energy utilization; solid, liquid, and hazardous materials management; the fate of chemicals in the environment; vector control; livestock production; air and water quality; occupational health and safety; the built environment; environmental justice; and other timely environmental issues of growing importance across the globe. -
SPH EH 735: The Environmental Determinants of Infectious Diseases
The environment is a key determinant of infectious disease burden in a population. This course presents an overview of how existing and, in particular, changing global environmental factors can affect the transmission cycle of infectious pathogens in both developing and industrialized countries. It examines issues of water, sanitation and hygiene in resource-limited settings that contribute enormously to childhood death due to infectious diarrheal diseases, and to morbidity and mortality due to neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). It also explores how environmental alterations, including urbanization, water development projects, changes in agricultural practices, and natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis, can result in ecological changes that impact on the maintenance and spread of infectious diseases in a community. The known and potential effects of climate variation and global climate change on the natural history of vector-borne diseases such as dengue are discussed. Sustainable environmental intervention strategies to reduce the burden of infectious diseases will be considered for each of the major diseases covered in class. For example, the course will examine different ways in which mosquito borne diseases such as malaria and West Nile virus are controlled in developing and developed countries, and discuss the risk and benefits of pesticide application in both settings. Students will be able to apply what they have learned towards both evaluating the potential of certain environments or environmental practices to promote transmission of specific pathogens, and understanding the basis of strategies aimed at the remediation, prevention and control of environmentally-dependent pathogens. This course is appropriate for MPH students and undergraduates, especially those interested in biology, global health, and the environment. -
SPH EH 745: Wastewater and Health/Sustainable Sanitation
This course provides students with an overview of the relationship between human health, ecological health, and sanitation. The different disposal and treatment methods for human excreta are described in their historical and political contexts. Related topics such as the land appliation of sewage sludge, the role of government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and public health experts are presented as well as practical solutions toward sustainable sanitation. This course involves a group project and a paper. -
SPH EH 750: Water Quality and Public Health
This course is a lecture and methods course on water resources and public health. Water supply and water quality discussions provide an overview of the technical and scientific basis on which public health decisions are made regarding disease prevention and community health. The chemical, physical, and biological processes necessary for designing and managing municipal drinking water treatment plants are analyzed. Water quality topics include standards and regulations; non-point source runoff;point source discharge; and water quality analysis of drinking and surface waters. Students will sample, analyze and use water quality objectives for comparison. Social, political, and economic factors effecting water quality and treatment will be discussed. The course will conclude with historical and international perspectives on water resources and management. -
SPH EH 757: Environmental Epidemiology
This course introduces students to epidemiologic investigations of environmental health problems. Topics include both traditional and innovative subjects and strategies, such as the health effects associated with air and water contaminants, toxic waste sites, lead, and radiation, as well as environmental exposures that have received attention only recently, such as endocrine disruptors and electromagnetic fields. The course emphasizes epidemiologic methods, particularly exposure assessment, modeling, cluster analysis, and sources of bias. Students gain experience in the critical review and design of related epidemiologic studies. This course counts as concentration credit for epidemiology concentrators. -
SPH EH 765: Survey of Environmental Health
This course meets the environmental health MPH core course requirement. All Environmental Health concentrators must take this course. Non-Environmental Health concentrators may choose between this course and EH717, which is a less technical course. Students who take this course cannot also take EH717 for degree credit. EH765 covers many of the same diverse topics that are covered in EH717. The course considers the technical foundations of environmental hazards, their impacts on public health, and the role of social, political, and regulatory factors in assessing, controlling, and preventing environmental hazards. Students who complete EH765 will have the necessary "tools of the trade" that will form the base for upper level courses in the Environmental Health Department. -
SPH EH 768: Introduction to Toxicology
This introductory course presents the basic concepts of toxicology, including dose-response relationships, biological and chemical factors that influence toxicity, types of harmful effects, principles of testing for toxic effects and the underlying concepts behind toxicant-induced disease susceptibility. Toxicants found in the environment, such as metals, pesticides and industrial pollutants, are studied. The course assumes basic knowledge of chemistry and biology, although there are no prerequisites. This course is required of all Environmental Health concentrators. -
SPH EH 780: Great Calamities and Their Consequences for Public Health
Current public health practice in the United States evolved in response to public health calamities. Epidemics of infectious disease, mass poisonings, and industrial disasters have served as catalysts for new regulations and institutions of public health. For example, the sulfanilamide tragedy of 1937 was the catalyst for the current drug approval process. In addition, public and private responses to calamities have fueled the development of scientific knowledge and epidemiologi methods. For example, John Snow's investigation of the London cholera outbreak of 1854 demonstrated the utility of observational epidemiology. This course acquaints students with those calamities of primarily the past 200 years that were most consequential for public health practice. The emphasis is on each calamity's impact on knowledge of disease causation and control and on the development of public health institutions and regulations. -
SPH EH 800: Community-Based Methods in Environmental Health
Low-income urban communities are exposed to many environmental and non-environmental stressors, but many tools and techniques for public policy decision-making do not adequately address these complex settings. This course focuses on methods for assessing and addressing local community health impacts from environmental stressors, with an emphasis on health impact assessment, community-based participatory research, and analytical methods to evaluate environmental justice. Case examples will include traffic and housing, and students will work with a community group to implement a health impact assessment on a topic of mutual interest. -
SPH EH 804: Exposure Assessment
The process of assessing exposure is a critical component of occupational and environmental epidemiology, of determining compliance with health and safety regulations, and in conducting human health risk assessments. This course in exposure assessment covers the basic concepts and methods of study design, data collection, and data analysis/interpretation. Students analyze relevant case studies and conduct a study in which they develop their own exposure assessment strategy, collect and analyze data, prepare a final report, and present their findings. -
SPH EH 805: Environmental Health Science, Policy and Law
This course uses a case-study approach to discuss current and historic controversies in environmental and occupational health policy making. Our specific focus is on the examination of how scientific information (e.g., risk assessments, exposure analyses, epidemiologic studies, clinical case reports,) is used (or is not used) in policy decisions. Students will learn how environmental health laws and regulations are made and challenged, and gain experience looking up laws, regulations and court decisions. Case studies feature international treaties, federal and state court cases, laws, regulations, and policies. Topic areas include air and water quality, hazardous waste, environmental justice, worker safety, and the precautionary principle. -
SPH EH 806: Development and the Environment
This course explores many critical environmental health issues that are linked to patterns of industrial and market development, with a special focus on developing countries. Specific examples that are discussed include food and agriculture, environmental impacts of industrialization, pest control strategies, and the effects of global climate on health. The course discusses the contestation over ideas, methods, and resources for sustainable development and equitable health outcomes. It emphasizes throughout the relationships between human health, development, and the environment. -
SPH EH 811: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Public Health
This course is an introductory level course for a novice GIS user. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a useful tool in the public health field. This course provides students with the skills needed to apply GIS in their careers. Topics covered include basic mapping, development of geographical datasets, and data analysis from applications of GIS in different disciplines of public health. A substantial portion of the course will be devoted to computer lab sessions. The course will use ArcGIS software.
