Professor Publishes New Edition of Epidemiology Textbook.
Ann Aschengrau, professor of epidemiology, recently published the fourth edition of her textbook, Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health.
Co-written with George R. Seage III, professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the textbook comprises graduate-level introductory material on traditional and new concepts of epidemiology. Several chapters delve into analytic study designs, including experimental, cohort, and case-control studies, and other sections are devoted to bias, confounding, random error, effect measure modification, screening in public health practice, and ethics in research involving human participants.
Aschengrau and Seage published the first edition of this textbook in 2003, and have updated it several times throughout the years to incorporate new content, study methods, and more recent or relevant examples.
“There is a greater interest in social epidemiology and the social factors that affect health,” Aschengrau says. “People have a broader understanding today of what environmental health is, and students are interested in issues such as climate change and toxin exposure.”
Based on reviewer feedback of previous editions, the newest version of the book also offers a lengthier section on infectious disease outbreaks, using real-world examples to explain how to investigate outbreaks. One example that is reviewed and dissected is the West African Ebola virus epidemic that began in 2013 and was the most widespread Ebola outbreak in history.
To date, more than 100 schools have used the editions of Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health.
Aschengrau has conducted epidemiologic research on environmental pollution and the risk of disease for more than 30 years. She has led investigations on the relationship between drinking water contaminants and abnormal pregnancy and birth outcomes, and on the impact of lead hazard reduction measures among inner-city children.
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