Fulfills the General Education requirement for "Individual & Society" and "Natural World", and "QSR" topics.
This course offered by the Institute for Public Health Genetics will survey a wide range of approaches for investigating the genetic and environmental causes of disease, and provide examples of how genetic epidemiologic research findings can be used in public health and clinical practice to improve the health of individuals and populations. We will also touch on the ethical, societal, political and legal dimensions that can arise when using information on genetic and environmental factors in research and practice. This course will develop students’ ability to understand the basic approaches used to identify genetic and environmental factors in health and disease, and how the application of this information can be used improve population health, as well as to appreciate the ethical, legal and social implications that can arise in both research and translation to practice.
By the end of the course each student will be able to:
Define genetic epidemiology and its relationship to other disciplines
Describe and apply fundamental concepts (in math, biology and epidemiology) critical to genetic epidemiology
Describe, compare and interpret major study designs used in genetic epidemiology, including assessing quality and limitations of a particular experiment
Differentiate types of genetic testing and their advantages and disadvantages
Be able to draw and interpret a pedigree to represent family relationships and health history
Explain how genetic epidemiologic findings can be applied in public health using current examples
Analyze presentations of genetic epidemiology in popular media and scientific literature.