BIO 238 Epidemiology

This course is designed to introduce the basic concepts, principles, and methods of epidemiologic research. In our pursuit to understand the interplay of risk factors and patterns of human disease and health, we will cover the history of epidemiology, the principles of epidemiologic thinking and of causal inference, the basic measures of disease frequency and of association, and how to compute them. We will also learn about the major types of epidemiologic study designs and explore the major fields of epidemiologic investigation (such as global health, infectious diseases outbreaks, occupational and environmental epidemiology). To better understand the practical application of study methods used in epidemiology, the class has a laboratory component (BIO 238L). The laboratory component will provide students exposure to public health related organizations here in Los Angeles County, as well as current local public health issues.