Biostatistics and Epidemiology

The biostatistics program prepares students for careers as biostaticians in the conduct of medical research and statistical methodological research. MS graduates are qualified for employment in academic, governmental or industrial medical research positions, or for the pursuit of a PhD. Doctoral students are qualified to direct biostatistical research activities in the public or private sectors and are also qualified to assume academic professorial positions and to conduct methodological research.

The program is jointly administered by the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics of the School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) and the Department of Statistics and the Biostatistics Center of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. Students take course work in public health and epidemiology offered by the SPHHS and course work in statistics and biostatistics offered by the Department of Statistics. Students also gain consulting experience through the Biostatistics Center's Medical Center Unit.

The epidemiology program prepares students for the conduct of medical, health services, and pubic health research and the application of quantitative methods to those fields. The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics collaborates with the Department of Statistics and the Biostatistics Center in these degree programs. Students in epidemiology will select a specialization among options in cancer epidemiology, environmental-occupational epidemiology, infectious disease epidemiology, and clinical epidemiology.