Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• SPH EP 749: Applications to Introductory Epidemiology
  This course is designed for students who want to gain practical experience articulating epidemiologic research questions, analyzing data, and reporting results. This course is closely synchronized with EP714 (Introduction of Epidemiology) and BS723 (Introduction to Statistical Computing), and applies knowledge of introductory epidemiologic principles to the analysis of observational data. The goals of this course are to (1) conceptualize research questions and develop testable hypotheses; (2) access and utilize data to calculate, interpret, and present disease measures; (3) apply introductory concepts of study design to evaluate peer-reviewed research; and (4) practice synthesizing and summarizing data through preparation of a scientific abstract, and critiquing and editing the work of peers.
• SPH EP 751: Cardiovascular Epidemiology
  The goal of this course is to enable students to understand major aspects of cardiovascular epidemiology and current strategies for primary and secondary prevention of major cardiovascular diseases (i.e. stroke, heart attack, heart failure or hypertension). The course concentrates on physiologic mechanisms leading to atherosclerosis; traditional and novel CHD risk factors; prediction models for CVD; and the role of lifestyle, dietary, and genetic factors on the development of CVD. In addition, relevant historical breakthrough and current controversies in CVD are discussed using the latest publication from lay press and peer-reviewed journals. A fair amount of time is devoted to acquiring skills in scientific writing and data interpretation. These latter skills are used by the students to design and complete a CVD epidemiology project on a topic of their choosing. Each student (group of students) then presents his/her completed project in class during the last 2 sessions of the course. The course is taught by the course Director and other senior investigators who are experts in different areas of cardiovascular disease.
• SPH EP 752: Cancer Epidemiology
  This course provides an overview of the important concepts fundamental to the understanding, design, and conduct of cancer epidemiology studies. The course commences with the descriptive epidemiology of cancer, including time trends in incidence and mortality, and geographic and demographic variation in cancer rates. An overview of the biology of cancer, and a review of the major epidemiologic concepts critical to cancer epidemiology is covered. The descriptive and analytic epidemiology of major cancer sites, including breast, lung, colon, prostate, and cervix, is discussed, as well as major risk factors for cancer, including tobacco, nutrition, infections, and health disparities. The course format consists of a series of lectures by faculty and guests, discussion sessions, and directed readings from the current literature, as well as a literature review and final group presentation.
• SPH EP 755: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
  This course introduces students to the biology, epidemiologic methods, and mathematical models needed to study infectious diseases in populations. In addition to lecture presentations on biologic and clinical aspects of infectious diseases, their distribution within populations, and their control, the course also covers study design issues specific to infectious diseases and simple infectious disease modeling. The course includes analysis of actual infectious disease outbreaks and studies through workshops and article reviews.
• SPH EP 758: Nutritional Epidemiology
  The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the discipline of nutritional epidemiology. In the class, we will focus on methodological issues relating to design, dietary assessment, and data analysis of studies on diet and disease. We will also review some of the literature relating nutrition to certain disease states, including coronary heart disease and cancer, in which we highlight methodological issues and interpretation of findings in nutritional epidemiologic research. Students completing this course will understand the basic principles of nutritional epidemiology and will be able to apply them in reading the literature and participating in nutrition research projects.
• SPH EP 759: Reproductive Epidemiology
  This course surveys current knowledge concerning the epidemiology of reproductive heath across the lifespan. Topics vary from year to year but may include infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, menopause, uterine fibroids, gynecologic cancers, and male reproductive health. The course emphasizes epidemiologic methods and gives the student experience in the critical review and design of epidemiologic studies in this area.
• SPH EP 762: Clinical Epidemiology
  This course introduces students to topics and methods in clinical epidemiology. Covered topics include those traditionally regarded within the purview of clinical epidemiology such as the evaluation of diagnostic tests (sensitivity, specificity, predictive value, and ROC curves), decision analysis, cost effectiveness analysis, outcomes assessment, and meta-analysis. At the conclusion of the course students will understand concepts of clinical epidemiology, know the indications for using each clinical epidemiology method, and be prepared to critically evaluate studies that employ these methods. Since this course uses numerous clinical examples, it is not recommended for those with no clinical experience.
• SPH EP 764: The Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the Developed and Developing World
  This course is designed to introduce students to an important and growing field - the epidemiology of HIV and AIDS. It is designed for those students who have a keen interest in HIV/AIDS in both the developed and developing world. This course will survey state-of-the art knowledge of the epidemiology of HIV and will emphasize epidemiologic principles and methods including: estimation of the incidence of HIV infection and AIDS, study design, and sources of bias. It will also give the student experience in the critical review of epidemiologic studies in this area.
• SPH EP 770: Concepts and Methods in Epidemiology
  This course develops the methodologic concepts and principles of epidemiology introduced in the MPH Quantitative Core course. The material covered is intended to extend the student's understanding of the elements of study design, data analysis, and inference in epidemiologic research, including issues related to bias, confounding, and stratified analysis. The course consists of lectures and workshop sessions. The workshop sessions are designed to reinforce the concepts/topics covered in the lectures. This course is not appropriate for students who have completed EP813.
• SPH EP 771: Topics in Epidemiology
  Please see course registration packet on SPH web site for course description for semester. Classes, topics, and credits may vary per semester.
• SPH EP 775: Social Epidemiology
  The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the major social variables that affect population health, including socio-economic status, race/ethnicity, gender, neighborhood environment, corporate practices, and the criminal justice system. This course will cover the theoretical underpinnings of each construct, and will provide students with an in-depth discussion of the empirical research linking each to population health. Methods are introduced to operationalize each construct for the purpose of empirical application in epidemiology research.
• SPH EP 784: The Epidemiology of Tuberculosis in the Developed and Developing World
  This course is designed for those students who have an interest in the epidemiology and control of tuberculosis in the developed and developing world. The course will survey both the history of this storied disease as well as state of the art knowledge of tuberculosis (including molecular epidemiologic techniques) and will emphasize epidemiologic principles and methods including: estimation of the incidence of primary tuberculosis, estimation of the incidence of reactivation tuberculosis, study design, and sources of bias. The course will also give the student practice and feedback in the critical review of epidemiologic studies in this area.
• SPH EP 790: Mental Health Epidemiology
  Mental Health Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of mental health disorders among populations. This course begins with an overview of the history and development of the field, also referred to as psychiatric epidemiology, using several classic studies. We will examine mental health and mental illness across the life span: child, adolescent, adult and older adult. Students will learn about the major risk factors for and etiologic models of mental disorders. This will include examination of social factors, biological factors, genetic factors and their interactions. Special attention will be paid to the unique methodological and analytical issues highlighted by mental health epidemiologic research, and recent changes to clinical and research classifications (e.g., DSM-V, RDoc). Based on the research covered in this course, students will be asked to consider the implications for public health programs and interventions.
• SPH EP 800: Microbes and Methods: Selected Topics in Outbreak Investigation
  This course provides an overview of the important concepts fundamental to the understanding, design, and conduct of infectious disease outbreak investigations. The course will cover 1. The epidemiology and pathophysiology of selected infectious diseases. 2. Methodological issues related to investigating different types of outbreak. 3. Practical aspects of outbreak investigations (environmental analyses and communicating risk to the public). The course will primarily address common causes of outbreaks in this country (such as foodborne, respiratory, and hospital-based) but will touch on issues pertinent to outbreak investigations in the developing world. The course format consists of a series of lectures by faculty and guests, hands‐on experience with outbreak investigation data, directed readings from current literature, and student presentations on outbreaks of note. The course makes extensive use of SAS, so it is advised that students have completed or are enrolled concurrently in BS 723.
• SPH EP 816: A Guided Epidemiologic Study
  This seminar course guides students through the development of a hypothesis- based study using a dataset that is currently available to the instructors. Through a combination of workshops, written assignments, oral presentations, and peer critiques, students learn the skills needed to develop hypotheses, conduct literature reviews, prepare for data analyses, and develop template data presentation tables and graphs.
• SPH EP 817: A Guided Epidemiology Study
  This is an upper-level , hands-on seminar course, which teaches a small group of students how to develop and conduct a hypothesis-based study, using datasets that are currently available to the instructors. Through a combination of workshops, written assignments, and oral presentations, students develop hypotheses, conduct literature reviews, perform data analyses, and write each section of a manuscript. The final project requires the student to integrate all sections into a complete paper for journal submission. This course prepares students to write thesis proposals and manuscripts.
• SPH EP 820: Perspectives on Epidemiologic Studies
  This one-week intensive will address a set of epidemiologic issues on each day through a formal lecture, group discussion, small group exercises, and student presentations. A variety of methods will be covered, with an emphasis on what they are and how they fit into the 'real world.' Students who encounter these and methods in subsequent classes (or work) will have a better understanding of how they fit in public health.
• SPH EP 850: Applications of Intermediate Epidemiology
  This course is designed for students interested in applying their knowledge of intermediate epidemiologic methods to the analysis of observational data. Topics include conceptualizing data analysis by defining an addressable research question, utilizing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) for confounder selection, choosing appropriate exposure and outcome measurements and interpreting the results with respect to strengths, limitations, and biases. This hands-on course will put the concepts of intermediate epidemiology into application as the students perform a data analysis project from start to finish. Data analysis will be performed using SAS. Statistical theory will not be a focus of this course.
• SPH EP 854: Advanced Epidemiology
  This course covers the theory and application of key principles and methods of epidemiologic research in depth. The topics include causal models, confounding, randomization, interaction, statistical analysis and inference, and causal inference. Special emphasis is given to the meaning and interpretation of p-values, confidence intervals, and likelihoods. Alternative approaches are identified for selecting and interpreting measures of disease frequency and measures of effect. Guidance is offered for determining objectives and strategies in study design and analysis, especially for case-control research. Methods are presented for the assessment and control of confounding, misclassification bias, and selection bias. Strengths and weaknesses of standardization, pooling, modeling, and exposure-response analysis are reviewed.
• SPH EP 855: Advanced Epidemiology Seminar: Issues in Study Design
  This course is structured around reading and discussing both historical and current methodological papers. The first section of the course focuses on papers by early theoreticians and methodologists. The second section focuses on contemporary methodologic questions. Substantive areas may evolve and vary over time. Recent topics have included case-control studies, study efficiency, measures of effect, exposure misclassification, sensitivity analysis, casual diagrams, and direct and indirect effects.

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