Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology

Catalog description

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Therefore, understanding the public health burden of CVD and the basic concepts and principles of CVD epidemiology is important for public health professionals and CVD researchers. This course will provide a foundation in CVD epidemiology, with a particular focus on the distribution, time trend, and major risk factors of CVD. This course will use examples from cornerstone population-based CVD epidemiological studies to help students understand the study design, analysis, and interpretation of CVD epidemiological studies. Students will use the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study data to perform epidemiological investigations of acute myocardial infarction and stroke and their behavioral/lifestyle and demographic determinants (in the first half of the semester) and the biological determinants (in the second half of the semester). The overall goal is to provide students with the knowledge and skills to apply epidemiological methods to design and conduct their own CVD epidemiological studies.