Environmental Epidemiology in Community Settings

波士顿大学公共卫生学院的环境健康系是全国少数几个专门从事环境流行病学在社区环境中应用的学术单位之一。这项建议描述了一种培训方案，位于一个成熟的博士项目中，其最终目标是让博士生预科学生准备好使用目前可用的最复杂的方法来提高知识水平，并开发面向社区的环境流行病学的新方法。 虽然该部主要致力于通过使用尖端工具(如功能磁共振成像)、开发新方法(如动力系统模型或晶格公式)和整合其他学科(数学、城市研究、经济学、毒理学和人类学等)来推进研究议程，但它也认识到，即使是最神秘的科学研究也发生在特定的社会背景下。就环境流行病学而言，这包括联邦、州和地方机构、个人和有组织的社区成员以及私营部门要素的复杂组合。学生们必须准备好在这个艰难的职业环境中发挥作用。因此，关于社会背景的指导是该计划不可或缺的一部分。 该项目旨在每年招收2000名学生，对6000名博士前实习生进行稳定的人口普查。它由规定的核心课程组成，其中包括流行病学、毒理学和生物统计学的教学，随后是一套更高级的课程，以适应不同的研究兴趣和策略。它还包括丰富受训人员经验和促进社会和专业凝聚力的活动。

Boston University School of Public Health's Department of Environmental Health is one of a small number of academic units nationally that has a specialty in the application of environmental epidemiology in community settings. This proposal describes a training regimen, located within a mature doctoral program, whose ultimate objective is to prepare pre-doctoral students to use the most sophisticated methods currently available to advance the state of knowledge and develop new methods in community-oriented environmental epidemiology. While the department is primarily committed to advancing the research agenda by use of cutting edge tools (such as functional magnetic resonance imaging), development of new methods (such as dynamical systems models or lattice formulations) and integration of other disciplines (mathematics, urban studies, economics, toxicology and anthropology, among others), it also recognizes that even the most arcane scientific research takes place within a specific social context. In the case of environmental epidemiology this includes a complex mix of federal, state and local agencies, individual and organized community members and elements of the private sector. Students must be prepared to function in this difficult professional landscape. Accordingly, instruction about the social context is an integral part of the program. The Program is designed to admit 2 students per year for a steady-state census of 6 predoctoral trainees. It consists of a stipulated core curriculum that includes instruction in epidemiology, toxicology, and biostatistics, followed by a suite of more advanced courses to accommodate various research interests and strategies. It also includes activities to enrich the experience of the trainees and promote social and professional cohesion.