User:Kithira/Course Pages/BIOL 15/About

The aim of this course is to give an introduction to epidemiological theory and practice, with a focus on public health and lifestyle factors.

The course covers basic principles regarding design, analysis, bias and interpretation of epidemiological studies. The course includes lectures, group discussions and various forms of exercises. The course focuses on active learning, i.e., putting knowledge into practice and critical reflection upon knowledge, rather than memorization of facts. There will be hands-on exercises where the students collect data on physical activity, evaluate the results, and consider potential bias. No previous knowledge in statistics is necessary.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this course each student is expected to be able to:


 * Give examples of the contribution of epidemiology to science and discuss the importance of epidemiology as a research discipline.


 * Estimate and interpret measures of disease occurrence and measures of association, and describe how a specific measure is governed by the study design.


 * Explain strengths and weaknesses of common epidemiological study designs.


 * Identify and explain possible sources of bias in epidemiological studies.


 * Apply knowledge of epidemiological concepts when critically reviewing scientific literature.


 * Be familiar with how to conduct epidemiological research, practical as well as ethical aspects.


 * Be familiar with different ways of assessing physical activity.


 * Give examples of important public health issues.

There will be five mandatory assignments. One of then is a group assignment where the groups will work with Wikipedia. Each group has a theme and will write a 3-5-page article for Wikipedia and thereafter make an oral presentation of the article.

Katarina Bälter (Instructor)

Stephanie Bonn (Teaching Assistant)

Steve Swoap (Faculty Sponsor)

Katarina Bälter is Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. Her research focuses on lifestyle factors and health. She has been teaching epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet and work as a researcher at Karolinska Institutet, Boston University and Harvard School of Public Health.