Courses

Details

• Instructor: Corinne Engelman
• Department: Population Health Sciences
• Credits/level: 3 credits
• Term: Spring 2025

Description

Provides undergraduate students of all disciplines with an introduction to the field of epidemiology. As the “detectives of public health,” epidemiologists investigate the causes of disease, track outbreaks, screen and monitor the health of populations, and design studies to track health over time. Epidemiological research is used to identify groups at-risk for disease, guide public health programs and policies and generate hypotheses about the causes of diseases which can inform further research. Also examines association and causality, study design, and limitations to epidemiological evidence, drawing from real examples, both current and historical.

Details

• Instructor: James Li
• Department: Psychology
• Credits/level: 3 credits, undergraduate capstone
• Term: Spring 2025

Description

The question of nature versus nurture has been debated for centuries and has often ignited heated debates and controversies. Today, the issue is no longer a question of nature versus nurture (nearly all experts agree that both are important) but has shifted to: how does nature interact with nurture? For instance, how do your genes affect the way you respond to stressful life events? If a disorder is highly heritable (e.g., schizophrenia), what can we do to prevent its course for happening? Answers to these questions will have profound implications on public policies and mental health treatments down the line. In this capstone course, you will learn about how genes and environments interact to make us who we are by following the journey of Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein, identical twins who were separated at birth and met for the first time as adults. Using their stories as backdrops, you will learn more about how genes and environment independently and interactive influence the development of major mental illnesses. You will be exposed to perspectives and methods from across disciplines, including philosophy, sociology, epidemiology, medicine, and psychology, to learn about how modern advances in genetics have led to a promising future for mental health, but one that is also fraught with ethical dilemmas and potentially perilous repercussions.

Details

• Instructor: Qiongshi Lu
• Department: Statistics
• Credits/level: 1 – 3 credits
• Term: Spring 2025

Details

• Instructor: Qiongshi Lu
• Department: Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
• Credits/level: 1 – 3 credits
• Term: Spring 2025

Details

• Instructor: Corinne Engelman
• Departments: Population Health Sciences
• Credits/level: 3 credits
• Term: Spring 2025

Description

This course will provide an introduction to genetic epidemiology. Topics will include a general overview of genetics and Mendelian and complex inheritance, as well as various elements of study design, including participant ascertainment; phenotype definition; biologic sample selection; genotyping, sequencing, and quality control; measurement of covariates, and choice of analytic methods. We will briefly discuss some of the original study designs and then focus on current study designs for the remainder of the class. Additional emerging topics will be briefly touched upon. Students will complete short homework assignments to enforce concepts learned during lectures, discuss journal articles, and prepare a very short grant application for the mid-term project. In the final weeks of class, students will work together to analyze data from a real genetic study, prepare tables, interpret the findings, and present their project to their peers.