Health Research and Policy

Epidemiology Division

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution, determinants and control of illness and impairment in human populations. It is the cornerstone of population health, and informs policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for treatment and prevention. The Division of Epidemiology is part of the Department of Health Research and Policy, and it is physically located on the Stanford School of Medicine campus. Its primary activities include:

Division Strengths

Stanford Epidemiology is a leader in the following areas — cancer epidemiology, infectious disease epidemiology, neuroepidemiology, cardiovascular disease epidemiology, musculoskeletal disease epidemiology, and epidemiologic methods, as well as aspects of genetic epidemiology, reproductive epidemiology and women's health. Our students and scholars benefit from interdisciplinary collaborations with the shared faculty of Stanford's #1 ranked graduate programs in many fields — statistics, computer science, biological sciences, medicine, genetics, genomics and bioinformatics.

Degree Programs

The Division offers the MS degree in epidemiology and clinical research. This is the main degree granting program for training through the Stanford Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). Students receive training in epidemiologic methods, statistical analysis, and other areas essential to patient-oriented clinical research. Many students are clinical investigators with an MD degree, often in fellowship stages of their training or already at the junior faculty level, who anticipate careers in translational and clinical research. Some students are pursing concurrent MD degrees. The program provides a rigorous introduction to epidemiology for students without a clinical background considering careers in clinical epidemiology, medicine, or clinical research. The program also considers applicants from doctoral programs in the social, behavioral, or biological sciences interested in a concurrent master degree, who wish to apply epidemiologic techniques to their areas of research interest.

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