Courses
The course descriptions below are correct to the best of our knowledge as of June 2010. Instructors reserve the right to update and/or otherwise alter course descriptions as necessary after publication. The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. The Course Rotation Guide lists the expected semester a course will be taught. Paper copies are also available in the BUSPH Registrar’s office. Please refer to the published schedule of classes for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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SPH BS 857: Analysis of Correlated Data
The purpose of this advanced seminar is to present some of the modern methods for analyzing tricorrelated observations. Such data may arise in longitudinal studies where repeated observations are collected on study subjects or in studies in which there is a natural clustering of observations, such as a multi-center study of observations clustered within families. Students start with a review of methods for repeated measures analysis of variance and proceed to more complicated study designs. The course presents both likelihood-based methods and quasi-likelihood methods. Marginal, random effects and transition models are discussed. Students apply these methods in homework assignments and a project. -
SPH BS 858: Statistical Genetics I
This course covers a variety of statistical applications to human genetic data, including collection and data management of genetic and family history information, and statistical techniques used to identify genes contributing to disease and quantitative traits in humans. Specific topics include basic population genetics, linkage analysis and genetic association analyses with related and unrelated individuals. -
SPH BS 859: Applied Genetic Analysis
Statistical tools such as linkage and association analysis are used to unravel the genetic component of complex disease. Investigators interested in the genetic analysis of complex traits need a basic understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these methodologies. This course will provide the student with practical, applied experience in performing linkage and association analyses, including genome-wide analyses. Special emphasis is placed on understanding assumptions and issues related to statistical methodologies for genetic analysis to identify genes influencing complex traits. Students will use specialized genetics software for homework assignments. -
SPH BS 860: Statistical Genetics II
This course covers current topics in statistical genetics, with emphasis on how statistical techniques can be used with various types of genetics data for mapping genes responsible/contributing to complex human diseases. Topics such as genetics map functions, gene mapping in experimental organisms, advanced linkage analysis methods, statistical approaches for the analysis of genome-wide high density SNP scans in unrelated and family samples will be discussed. -
SPH BS 861: Applied Statistics in Clinical Trials II
This course covers a variety of biostatistical topics in clinical trials, including presentation of statistical results to regulatory agencies for product approval, analysis of safety data, intent-to-treat analyses and handling of missing data, interim analyses and adaptive designs, and analyses of multiple endpoints. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to make and defend decisions for many study designs and for issues faced when analyzing efficacy and safety data from clinical trials. Students will also be able to present, in a written format following standard guidelines accepted by the clinical trials' community, results of such efficacy and safety analyses to the medical reviewers and statistical reviewers of regulatory agencies. -
SPH BS 865: Statistical Consulting
Consulting is an integral part of a career in biostatistics. This course introduces students to the skills needed to become an effective consultant and provides opportunities for practical training through mock consultations, video consulting sessions and case studies. Topics covered include steps in a consulting session, project/data management, and oral and written presentation of results. Students will also gain experience in writing data analysis plans, performing sample size/power calculations and data analysis. -
SPH BS 871: Advanced Topics in Biostatistics
Advanced Topics in Biostatistics explores various areas of study within the field of biostatistics in greater depth. Two and four credit topics classes vary by semester. See the print or web-based School of Public Health semester schedule for more information pertaining to the advanced topics course for a specific semester. -
SPH BS 901: Directed Studies in Biostatistics
Directed Studies provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a full-time SPH faculty member. Students may register for 1, 2, 3, or 4 credits of BS901 by submitting a paper registration form and a signed directed study proposal form. Directed studies with a non-SPH faculty member or an adjunct faculty member must be approved by and assigned to the department chair. The Directed Study Proposal Form lists the correct course number per department; students are placed in a section by the Registrar’s Office according to the faculty member with whom they are working. Students may take no more than eight credits of directed study, directed research, or practica courses during their MPH education. -
SPH BS 902: Directed Research in Biostatistics
Directed Research sections in Biostatistics provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of Biostatistics research under the direction of a full-time SPH faculty member. Students may register for 1, 2, 3, or 4 credits. Directed studies with a non-SPH faculty member or an adjunct faculty member must be approved by and assigned to the department chair. To register, students must submit a paper registration form and signed directed research proposal form. Students are placed in a section by the Registrar’s Office according to the faculty member with whom they are working. Students may take no more than eight credits of directed study, directed research, or practica courses during their MPH education. -
SPH BS 980: Continuing Study in Biostatistics
Doctoral students in Biostatistics register each summer and fall for Continuing Study in Biostatistics until they have graduated from their doctoral program. Students will participate in a dissertation workshop and other activities while they are preparing their dissertation. Students are charged for 2 credits equivalent of tuition and for medical insurance. They are certified full time. Students must be registered for this course at GRS. -
SPH EH 708: Introduction to Environmental Health
This course is a survey of the major issues in contemporary environmental health. Topics include environmental health hazards associated with human settlement, industrial activities, and agriculture and the food supply, including approaches to assessing, controlling, and preventing these hazards. Although the course is addressed to non-scientists, it seeks to provide some insight into the scientific underpinnings of current debates. This core course does not carry concentration credit; Environmental Health concentrators must take the concentration core course, EH765 to meet the MPH core requirrement. Non-Environmental Health concentrators may choose between this course and EH765, which is a more technical course. Students who successfully complete this course and then wish to change to or add the environmental health concentration are able to fulfill the EH core course requirement by registering for an additional 2 credits. Contact the EH department for specifics. -
SPH EH 710: Physiologic Principles for Public Health
This course provides students with a detailed working knowledge of the normal mechanisms of human body function. Physiological mechanisms are studied from the molecular level to the level of organ systems, and emphasis is placed on understanding how body processes are regulated and integrated so as to achieve homeostasis characteristic of a “normal” healthy individual. Students will become acquainted with both the gross and histological anatomy of major organs. For each system covered, a case study of a disease of significant public health interest is used to reinforce basic physiological principles, and to acquaint students with physiological measurements commonly used in clinical settings. This course is recommended for all students who need a substantive understanding of human physiology for subsequent coursework. This course will be of special value to students whom expect their career’s to involve close interaction with health care providers. -
SPH EH 713: Molecular Biology and Public Health
The last 10 years has seen an explosion in the discipline of molecular biology that has important implications for our current and future approach to public health. Therefore, an understanding of the principal concepts of this field is critical to the modern public health practitioner. The goal of this course is to equip students with the ability to understand the potential applications of genetic engineering to their health specialties. In particular, the course introduces the student to the basic concepts of cellular biology and molecular genetics and investigates the use of a number of powerful molecular techniques including, but not limited to, gene cloning, genetic engineering of animals and plants, identification of molecular bio-markers of susceptibility, and mining of the human genome database. The implications of these advances vis-a-vis right to privacy, discrimination, and other ethical issues are also addressed. While a background in biology is helpful, this course is negotiable by any student showing a high level of enthusiasm for scientific discovery. -
SPH EH 714: Public Health Response to Emergencies
During times of crisis, the ability of Public Health to provide essential services and support healthy communities is strained. Recent emergencies and disasters have and continue to teach us lessons in how best to prepare the Public Health system for such incidents. This course will teach students the concepts and practices central to public health emergency preparedness for human-made and natural disasters. Case studies will be will be used to analyze planning, response, recovery, and mitigation operations of the public health emergency response system to Hurricane Katrina. Students will employ the tools of emergency preparedness to describe systemic factors that contributed to the impact of the Hurricane on population health in Louisiana. Pre-Katrina documents will be used to explore the state of preparedness efforts along the Gulf Coast and Spike Lee’s film, “When the Levees Broke”, will provide New Orleans residents’ accounts of the storm and its aftermath. In the end, students will possess a command over the various ways a Public Health system can protect community health during times of emergency and ensure the accessibility of emergency services to the most vulnerable of populations. -
SPH EH 745: Wastewater and Health/Sustainable Sanitation
This course provides students with an overview of the relationship between human health, ecological health, and sanitation. The different disposal and treatment methods for human excreta are described in their historical and political contexts. Related topics such as the land appliation of sewage sludge, the role of government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and public health experts are presented as well as practical solutions toward sustainable sanitation. This course involves a group project and a paper. -
SPH EH 757: Environmental Epidemiology
This course introduces students to epidemiologic investigations of environmental health problems. Topics include both traditional and innovative subjects and strategies, such as the health effects associated with air and water contaminants, toxic waste sites, lead, and radiation, as well as environmental exposures that have received attention only recently, such as endocrine disruptors and electromagnetic fields. The course emphasizes epidemiologic methods, particularly exposure assessment, modeling, cluster analysis, and sources of bias. Students gain experience in the critical review and design of related epidemiologic studies. This course counts as concentration credit for epidemiology concentrators. -
SPH EH 765: Survey of Environmental Health
This course meets the environmental health MPH core course requirement. All Environmental Health concentrators must take this course. Non-Environmental Health concentrators may choose between this course and EH708, which is a less technical course. Students who take this course cannot also take EH708 for degree credit. EH765 covers many of the same diverse topics that are covered in EH708. The course considers the technical foundations of environmental hazards, their impacts on public health, and the role of social, political, and regulatory factors in assessing, controlling, and preventing environmental hazards. Students who complete EH765 will have the necessary "tools of the trade" that will form the base for upper level courses in the Environmental Health Department. -
SPH EH 768: Introduction to Toxicology
This introductory course presents the basic concepts of toxicology, including dose-response relationships, biological and chemical factors that influence toxicity, types of harmful effects, principles of testing for toxic effects and the underlying concepts behind toxicant-induced disease susceptibility. Toxicants found in the environment, such as metals, pesticides and industrial pollutants, are studied. The course assumes basic knowledge of chemistry and biology, although there are no prerequisites. This course is required of all Environmental Health concentrators. -
SPH EH 771: Topics in Environmental Health
Two and four credit topics courses are offered throughout the academic year as a means of exploring new areas of study in the discipline. Topics vary by semester. Please refer to the print schedule for the specific area for any given semester. -
SPH EH 780: Great Calamities and their Consequences for Public Health
Current public health practice in the United States evolved in response to public health calamities. Epidemics of infectious disease, mass poisonings, and industrial disasters have served as catalysts for new regulations and institutions of public health. For example, the sulfanilamide tragedy of 1937 was the catalyst for the current drug approval process. In addition, public and private responses to calamities have fueled the development of scientific knowledge and epidemiologi methods. For example, John Snow's investigation of the London cholera outbreak of 1854 demonstrated the utility of observational epidemiology. This course acquaints students with those calamities of primarily the past 200 years that were most consequential for public health practice. The emphasis is on each calamity's impact on knowledge of disease causation and control and on the development of public health institutions and regulations.
Note that this information may change at any time.
