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 two students per year for a steady-state census of six 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.
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