Areas of Study in Epidemiology

Cancer epidemiology encompasses efforts to monitor the occurrence of cancer in populations, to better understand cancer etiology, and to develop strategies for preventing and controlling cancer morbidity and mortality.  Areas of research emphasis include lifestyle factors in relation to cancer incidence in women, gene-environment interactions in cancer etiology, cancer survivorship, monitoring cancer trends, and the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in cancer prevention and control.

 

Environmental epidemiology seeks to determine the potential relationships  between environmental contaminants and changes in the global ecosystem and public health effects, and develops strategies for preventing and controlling environmentally-related disease. Areas of research emphasis include PCBs and mercury and other fish contaminants, indoor air pollution, climate change, lead pollution of inner cities, etc.

 

The Department of Population Health Sciences is home to many large cohort studies of aging addressing such health problems as sleep disorders, menopause, cardiovascular disease, dementia, eye diseases, hearing loss, olfactory impairment, subclinical atherosclerosis, and quality of life.  These studies provide numerous opportunities for graduate students to engage in epidemiological research focused on aging.  Faculty members are also co-investigators in many other cohort studies of aging.  The University of Wisconsin’s Institute on Aging provides additional seminars and other resources in aging. A Gerontology Certificate and a Ph.D. distributed minor with a focus on aging are available through the Institute of Aging.

 

Infectious diseases epidemiology monitors the occurrence of infectious diseases in populations and develops strategies for preventing and controlling disease.  The department also leads an Infectious Disease Interest Group (IDIG) with the mission of bringing individuals together who work and/or are interested in the population-level aspects of infectious diseases.

 

Genetic epidemiology is a broad discipline combining aspects of statistics, population genetics, classical epidemiology, human genetics, and public health genomics.  The basic goal of genetic epidemiology is to understand the role of genes and the genome; environmental factors; and interactions between these in determining a particular trait of interest.

 

Students are encouraged to work with their academic advisor to define a selection of electives to meet particular needs and interests.  There are nearly limitless choices of challenging courses within the graduate offerings of departments in the University at large and these serve to enrich the interdisciplinary training for epidemiology students. Students may be particularly interested in the highly subscribed electives listed below in Courses.