UC Davis 2008-2010 General Catalog - General Catalog - UC Davis

Epidemiology (A Graduate Group) 287
Required Courses for the Program
Prerequisite Courses. Prerequisites may be taken
concurrently with required courses below.
Mathematics 16A-16B or 21A-21B
Statistics 102, 106, and 108, or Preventive
Veterinary Medicine 402, 403
Required Courses. These courses are required of
all students in the program; M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.
These requirements cannot be waived and must be
met before a student’s Qualifying Examination.
Epidemiology 204, 205A, 205B, 206, 207,
208 and 290
Statistics 130A-130B
One course from Population Health and
Reproduction 202 or Statistics 144
Related Courses. For additional course work in
Epidemiology, please see Medicine and Epidemiology,
Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Population
Health and Reproduction, Epidemiology and Preventive
Medicine, and Statistics.
Courses in Epidemiology (EPI)
Graduate Courses
204. Statistical Models, Methods, and Data
Analysis for Scientists (4)
Lecture—3 hours; laboratory/discussion—1 hour.
Prerequisite: Statistics 130B or 131B, or 133; Statistics
108 recommended. Development of broad statistical
skills useful for the analysis of scientific data.
Special emphasis given to determining factors associated
with characteristics like disease and time-toevent.
Analysis of data that can be modeled as generalized
linear and generalized linear mixed models,
parametric and non-parametric survival models,
and models for correlated, clustered, longitudinal
data.—III. Johnson
205A. Principles of Epidemiology (4)
Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 402 or consent of instructor. Basic epidemiologic
concepts and approaches to epidemiologic
research, with examples from veterinary and human
medicine, including outbreak investigation, infectious
disease epidemiology, properties of tests, and
an introduction to epidemiologic study design and
surveillance. (Same course as Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 405.)—I. (I.)
205B. Integration of Epidemiologic
Concepts (2)
Discussion—2 hours. Prerequisite: Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 405/course 205A can be taken concurrently.
In-depth analysis and integration of basic
epidemiologic concepts and approaches to epidemiologic
research presented in Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 405/course 205A, with more mathematical
and theoretical basis and examples from veterinary
and human medicine, including outbreak
investigation, infectious disease epidemiology, properties
of diagnostic tests, study design, and surveillance.—I.
(I.)
206. Epidemiologic Study Design (3)
Lecture—1.5 hours; discussion—0.9 hours; laboratory—1.8
hours. Prerequisite: Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 405/course 205A, course 205B. Builds
on concepts presented in course 205A. Concepts of
epidemiologic study design—clinical trials, observational
cohort studies, case control studies—introduced
in course 205A are covered in more depth,
using a problem-based format. Discussion of published
epidemiologic studies. (Same course as Preventive
Veterinary Medicine 406A.)—II. (II.)
207. Advanced Concepts in Epidemiologic
Study Design (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: course
205B and 206. In-depth integration of advanced
concepts in study design, with theory and examples,
including confounding, effect modification under
additive and multiplicative models, internal and
external validity, bias, misclassification, alternate
designs, source populations, statistical power and
sample size, causation, and genetic epidemiology.—III.
Gold, Kass
208. Analysis and Interpretation of
Epidemiologic Data (3)
Lecture—16 sessions; laboratory—21 sessions; project.
Prerequisite: course 204 (may be taken concurrently)
and 207, and either Statistics 144 or
Population Health and Reproduction 202 and entry
level skill in standard statistical software (e.g., SPSS,
BMDP, SAS, Stata, MinTab, S-Plus). Application of
theory and concepts of statistics and epidemiology
to analysis and interpretation of data typically found
in veterinary and human epidemiologic research.—
III. Beckett
210A. Analytic Epidemiology I: Case-
Control Studies (3)
Lecture—2 hours; laboratory/discussion—3 hours.
Prerequisite: Statistics 130B and Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 406 (or the equivalent), or consent of
instructor. Theory and practice of epidemiologic
data analysis. Topics include confounding, stratification,
matching, interaction, and logistic regression.
(Same course as Population Health and Reproduction
210A.)—II. (II.) Kass
210B. Analytic Epidemiology II: Cohort
Studies (3)
Lecture—3 hours. Prerequisite: course 210A. Theory
and practice of epidemiologic data analysis. Topics
include rates, rate standardization, cohort analysis,
Poisson regression, and survival/failure-time methods.
(Same course as Population Health and Reproduction
210B.)—III. (III.) Kass
220. Problems in Epidemiologic Study
Design (4)
Lecture—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: Preventive
Veterinary Medicine 405 and 406 or the equivalent;
Population Health and Reproduction 207
concurrently; Statistics 102 and 106 or the equivalent.
Design and development of research protocols
and funding applications for peer review. Application
of research methods data collection and management
and statistical analysis in research
proposals. Methods of evaluating research proposals,
mechanisms of funding, specifying human subjects
considerations.—III. (III.) Gold
222. Epidemiological Modeling (3)
Lecture—2 hours; laboratory—3 hours. Prerequisite:
Preventive Veterinary Medicine 405. Techniques of
model building and simulation of infectious diseases
will be explored. Epidemiologic modeling philosophy,
construction and validation will be emphasized.
Offered in alternate years.—II. Carpenter
223. Spatial Epidemiology (3)
Lecture—2 hours; laboratory—3 hours. Prerequisite:
Preventive Veterinary Medicine 405 or Environmental
Studies 126 or Veterinary Medicine 409. Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) and spatial
statistics. Students are expected to complete a term
project based on their graduate research. Offered in
alternate years.—II. Carpenter
224. Health and Ecological Risk Analysis
(3)
Lecture—2 hours; laboratory—3 hours. Prerequisite:
Preventive Veterinary Medicine 406 or consent of
instructor; background in statistics, including multivariable
techniques; a course in differential equations.
A methodological approach to risk analysis for
human and animal-related health and ecological
issues. Basic principles of risk analysis, including
perception, communication, assessment and management.
Emphasis on the assessment of risk.—III.
(III.) Carpenter
225. Advanced Topics in Epidemiology
Methods (2)
Discussion—2 hours. Prerequisite: courses 205B,
206, and 207 (or equivalents, with consent of
instructor). An in-depth study of topics in epidemiology
theory and methods, selected from: causal inference,
confounding, study design, or other related
areas, with year to year variation. Readings are
assigned and students are expected to lead discussions
on them. May be repeated for credit when
topic differs. Not offered every year.—II, III. (II, III.)
Hertz-Picciotto
228. Quantitative Methods for
Epidemiology (4)
Lecture—3 hours; lecture/discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite:
Mathematics 16A-B or Mathematics 17A-B
or Mathematics 21A-B or equivalent; basic knowledge
of the principles of linear algebra, such as
those taught in mathematics 22A or the equivalent,
is assumed. The application of calculus and linear
algebra techniques to epidemiological problems.
Topics include applications of derivatives, integration,
exponentials and logarithms, multivariable calculus,
infinite series, and vector and matrix algebra,
with examples and problems taken from epidemiology
and related subjects.—I. (I.) Harvey
240. Principles of Injury Epidemiology (3)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours. Overview of the epidemiology
of human injury, including general principles,
surveillance methods, behavioral factors,
environmental factors, treatment issues and engineering
and legal interventions related to vehicular injuries,
drownings, falls, fires and burns, poisonings,
firearm injuries, and other intentional injuries.—I. (I.)
Romano
250. Introduction to Clinical Research
Design and Epidemiology (1)
Lecture—1 hour. Prerequisite: graduate standing or
medical/nursing personnel. For medical personnel
who are or will be involved in medical research.
Review of basics of clinical study design and analysis
of clinical data. (S/U grading only.)—I. (I.)
McCurdy, Romano
251. Environmental Epidemiology (3)
Lecture—3 hours. Prerequisite: Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 405 (may be taken concurrently); upper
division undergraduates who have completed Environmental
Studies 126; or the equivalent. Examination
of the human health effects and the risk of
disease from community, occupational, and personal
exposure to toxic substances. Offered in alternate
years.—I. Gold
260. Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases and
Aging (3)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours. Overview of the epidemiology
of chronic disease in old age. Topics
include biology of aging, epidemiology of cardiovascular
disease, neoplasms, osteoporosis and fractures,
psychosocial factors and health in old age,
dementias, functional status and prevention of disease.—II.
(II.)
270. Research Methods in Occupational
Epidemiology (3)
Laboratory/discussion—3 hours. Prerequisite: Environmental
Studies 126 or Preventive Veterinary Medicine
405; and Statistics 102 or Epidemiology and
Preventive Medicine 402. Methods used in epidemiologic
research on occupational hazards. Topics
include design and analysis of cohort and case-control
studies, sample size, measuring dose, choosing
a control group, validation of employment and
health data, interpreting negative studies, and analysis
software. Offered in alternate years.—III. Beaumont
272. Cancer Epidemiology (2.0)
Recitation—1 hour; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite:
must have basic understanding of epidemiologic
and statistical concepts that are covered in courses
205A, 205B, 206 (may be taken concurrently), and
Statistics 102. We will cover the underlying concepts
essential to understanding cancer epidemiology,
such as trends in incidence and survival, epidemiologic
methods used to assess cancer etiology, prevention
and control, and an introduction to the
cancerinitiation and progression multi-stage
model.—II. (II.) Butler, Cress
290. Seminars in Epidemiology (1)
Seminar—1 hour. Students will actively participate
in presentation and discussion of ongoing or published
research projects in epidemiology. (S/U grading
only.)—III. (III.)
Quarter Offered: I=Fall, II=Winter, III=Spring, IV=Summer; 2009-2010 offering in parentheses
General Education (GE) credit: ArtHum=Arts and Humanities; SciEng=Science and Engineering; SocSci=Social Sciences; Div=Social-Cultural Diversity; Wrt=Writing Experience