78853 - Environmental Epidemiology

Learning outcomes

The main objective of this course is to provide basic knowledge on the following items:

-principles of evidence-based medicine and prevention

-introduction to the main methods of epidemiological studies used in  environmental epidemiology

- main environmental pollutants and their health effects

Course contents

Methods in environmental epidemiology:

• Main epidemiologic study designs and their application in environmental epidemiology
• Study designs to evaluate short term effects
• Measures of occurrence and association
• Evaluation of exposure and outcome
• Causality, bias and confounding
• Systematic reviews of the literature, evidence based medicine and prevention
  

Evaluation of effectiveness of preventive interventions

Main environmental pollutants and their health effects

Readings/Bibliography

Learning materials will be distributed during lessons.

Textbooks for deepening study topics

General introduction to epidemiology methods

Lash TL, VanderWeele TJ, Haneuse S, Rothman KJ. Modern Epidemiology, 4th edition. Wolters Kluwer, 2021.

Introduction to environmental epidemiology

Bake D, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ. Environmental Epidemiology. Study methods and application. OUP, 2008.

Advanced methods

Thomas DC. Statistical Methods in Environmental Epidemiology. OUP, 2009.

Dominici F, Peng RD. Statistical Methods for Environmental Epidemiology with R A Case Study in Air Pollution and Health. Springer, 2008.

Teaching methods

Lectures

Working groups and presentations

Assessment methods

Multiple choice tests, or short written responses to a few questions.

Participation during lessons and presentation of the group work

Teaching tools

Distributed directly or via the university website

Office hours

See the website of Eva Vanna Lorenza Negri