This course will introduce basic principles of genetic and molecular epidemiology through interactive discussion with leading researchers in the field. This is a stand-alone course but is also a prerequisite for the Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Certificate Program.

Prerequisite: EPI 530 and fundamental knowledge of human biology. Molecular epidemiology encompasses topics beyond the recent era of "-omics." Biospecimens have been analyzed to evaluate exposures and health states for decades. We will cover applications of molecular epidemiology used to protect or improve public health, including biospecimen collection, assay technique s, and disease biomarkers. Topics will include: (a) cholesterol in heart disease, (b) methods of infectious disease surveillance (COVID-19, zoonotic diseases), and (c) molecular aspects of the opioid crisis.

Prerequisite/Concurrent: EPI 504 or EPI 530. This course will introduce students to applications of epidemiologic methods and approaches to evaluating the use of human genetic discoveries in the practice of medicine and public health in the 21st century. With the completion of the human genome project, the epidemiologic approach is now urgently needed to assess the prevalence of genetic variation in the population, to characterize the burden of disease associated with genetic variation and with gene- environment interaction, and to evaluate the impact of genetic tests in reducing morbidity and mortality. At the end of the course, participants should be able to identify types of information needed to translate genetic discoveries into medicine and public health and be able to review and evaluate such information in the scientific literature. The course is designed for public health students interested in the intersection of epidemiology, genetics, preventive medicine, and health policy.

This course provides a comprehensive survey of the statistical methods that have been recently developed for the designs and analysis of genetic association studies. Specific topics include genome-wide association studies, likelihood inference and EM algorithm, case-control sampling and retrospective likelihood, secondary phenotypes in case-control studies, haplotypes and untyped SNPs, population stratification, meta-analysis, multiple testing, winner's curse, copy number variants, next-generation sequencing studies, rare variants and trait-dependent sampling.

Prerequisites: college-level biology and chemistry or instructor's permission. The goal of this course is to introduce the student to the basic principles of toxicology. Humans are exposed to a variety of dangerous substances through occupational and environmental exposures. In order to interpret the public health implications of these exposures one must have a good understanding of how these compounds get into the body, how they are processed in the body, and how they damage particular organ systems. To accomplish this, students will gain practical knowledge of the workings of specific organ systems and will be able to identify particular environmental chemicals and their mechanisms of action that underlie organ toxicity. This information will be conveyed through lecture material and reinforced by relevant readings, in-class discussion, and additional assignments that are focused on ensuring that the toxicological topics are further evaluated and considered in the context of current environmental and human health concerns and do not simply exist as standalone facts.

Prerequisite: EH 520 or instructor?s permission. This course is focused on understanding and evaluating the targets, molecular mechanisms, and physiological effects of specific environmental chemicals on the nervous system. This knowledge will be supplemented through outside readings and class discussions that serve to support the students? understanding of the material and provide them with a real-world perspective of neurotoxicology.

This course presents the fundamental concepts of biomarkers of exposure to environmental chemicals including relevant clinical markers (e.g., inflammation or injury markers). The course introduces students to both quantitative and qualitative biomarker measurements and presents and interpretive framework for using biomarker data. Students will develop proficiency in applying the principles of exposure science to characterize and quantify environmental exposures.

This elective course provides students with an overview of systems biology, genetics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics, within the context of environmental health. We will cover policy and translational implications and teach the underlying biological principles driving these analyses, laboratory methods involved, analytic approaches, and epidemiologic considerations. Upon completion of this course, students should be better equipped to read and interpret the scientific literature utilizing these methods and begin to consider how these approaches could be included in their own research.

Prerequisites: EH 520 or instructor permission. The goal of this course is to strengthen the students' understanding of the interaction between environmental chemicals and specific organ systems of the human body, focusing on appreciation of cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the toxicity. This knowledge will be supplemented through outside readings and class discussions using a modified problem based learning (PBL) format. These interactions will serve to support the students' understanding of the material and provide them with a real world perspective of molecular toxicology. Cross-listed with IBS 740.

Prerequisite: EPI 530 or EPI 504. This course provides an overview of cardiovascular pathophysiology and applies epidemiology methods to published research studies in the cardiovascular prevention space. The course will foster students' abilities to understand and critically evaluate cardiovascular epidemiology and covers related topics involving social dterminants, disparities, and genetic/molecular mechanisms.

Prerequisites: BIOS 500 and EPI 552 or instructor permission, Knowledge of R is recommended. Genomic epidemiology is an increasingly important approach to studying disease risks in populations. This course will introduce the basic genetic principles as they apply to the identification of genetic variations associated with disease; illustrate the population and quantitative genetic concepts that are necessary to study the relationship between genetic variation and disease variation in populations; and provide hands-on experience to address the analytical needs for conducting genomic epidemiologic research. Studentswill gain experience with R and PLINK using high dimensional genetic data.

The focus of this course is on the epidemiology of obesity, its determinants, and consequences, and population-based methods for investigating obesity. The course will entail a survey of obesity research, including: (1) the biology and physiology of adiposity; (2) behavioral, environmental, social, and genetic determinants of obesity; and (3) the health consequences of obesity. Methodologic concepts in the practice of research, including those related to measurement, modeling and interpretation, will be emphasized in this course.

Pre-requisites: EPI 504 or 530 or instructor permission. The primary objective of this course is for the student to gain basic knowledge about cancer and issues and methodologies relevant to investigating cancer etiology, prevention, and control using epidemiologic methods. Secondary objectives are for the student to gain experiences in critiquing published cancer epidemiology articles and conducting a literature review and writing a summary of a topic in cancer epidemiology.

Various topics by Epi faculty. Check OPUS/Atlas for current topics and descriptions.

Pre-requisites: EPI 530, EPI 533 or instructor permission. Experience with SAS preferred. This course is designed for students interested in studies of diet and health outcomes. The course provides an overview of methods for estimating dietary intakes. Issues related to the collection, processing, analysis and manipulation of dietary data in relation to foods dietary patterns, nutrients, and dietary supplements will also be addressed. Students will also have theopportunity to apply methods for manipulating dietary data including understanding variation in diet, comparing methods for energy adjustment, manipulating raw data to create food grouping variables for dietary pattern analysis and calculating a dietary score.

This course will develop in-depth understanding of epidemiological, biological, and applied aspects of commonly used vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) of public health importance. The course content will be structured to review specific vaccines and VPDs (rather than overarching aspects of immunization programs covered in GH 566/EPI 566). Where relevant, the course lecturers will use examples from both developed and developing countries