Fall Term
EPH 646 – Climate and Health (3 cr)
There is an intricate relationship between climate and health. Climate changes directly affect health and well-being but also mediate the effects of socio-physical and biochemical changes in the environment on health and well-being. This course will help students unravel this intricate relationship between climate and health. A range of topics will be covered including: a) the etiology of disease with respect to climate change, b) shifting burden of disease and disability with respect to changing climate and climate-mediated changes in the environment, and c) application areas of climate-health linkages: unintentional injuries and climate change, vector-borne disease and climate change, heat-related mortality, disease of metabolic syndrome and climate change, cardiopulmonary, allergy and immunology disease due to bioaerosols and air pollution.
ATM 614 – Introduction to Weather and Climate (3 cr)
This course will cover the structure, physics, dynamics and thermodynamics of the atmosphere; including weather analysis, weather forecasting, climate and climate change. Contemporary topics covered in this class will include global warming, the ozone hole, hurricanes, thunderstorms and other severe weather phenomena.
ATM 653 – Climate Change (3 cr)
Overview of the physical processes which regulate the earth's climate and response to forcing.
EPH 658 - Analysis of the Health Effects of Climate (3 cr)
The course will train students in analytical skills needed to quantify the health risks associated with climate, weather and weather anomalies (or extreme weather) adjusting for confounding factors and time-space hierarchical structures. The course will include quantification of time-space lagged exposure estimation, spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal analyses, exposure and risk uncertainty analyses.
Prerequisite: EPH 727.
EPH 698 - MSPH Thesis Proposal (3 cr)
The course will train students in analytical skills needed to quantify the health risks associated with climate, weather and weather anomalies (or extreme weather) adjusting for confounding factors and time-space hierarchical structures. The course will include quantification of time-space lagged exposure estimation, spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal analyses, exposure and risk uncertainty analyses.
Prerequisite: EPH 727.
EPH 699 - MSPH Thesis (3 cr)
This is an independent study course. Students in the MSPH track may register for this course with an approval from the Capstone Manager and faculty advisor. The purpose of this course is to collect and analyze the data per thesis proposal, to prepare and write the thesis and deliver an oral presentation.
Summer Term
EPH 698 - MSPH Thesis Proposal (3 cr)
The course will train students in analytical skills needed to quantify the health risks associated with climate, weather and weather anomalies (or extreme weather) adjusting for confounding factors and time-space hierarchical structures. The course will include quantification of time-space lagged exposure estimation, spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal analyses, exposure and risk uncertainty analyses.
Prerequisite: EPH 727.
EPH 699 - MSPH Thesis (3 cr)
This is an independent study course. Students in the MSPH track may register for this course with an approval from the Capstone Manager and faculty advisor. The purpose of this course is to collect and analyze the data per thesis proposal, to prepare and write the thesis and deliver an oral presentation.
Spring Term
EPH 646 – Climate and Health (3 cr)
There is an intricate relationship between climate and health. Climate changes directly affect health and well-being but also mediate the effects of socio-physical and biochemical changes in the environment on health and well-being. This course will help students unravel this intricate relationship between climate and health. A range of topics will be covered including: a) the etiology of disease with respect to climate change, b) shifting burden of disease and disability with respect to changing climate and climate-mediated changes in the environment, and c) application areas of climate-health linkages: unintentional injuries and climate change, vector-borne disease and climate change, heat-related mortality, disease of metabolic syndrome and climate change, cardiopulmonary, allergy and immunology disease due to bioaerosols and air pollution.
EPH 657 – Toxicology: Climate and Health (3 cr)
The course will train students in developing an understanding of and skills in assessing the mechanism of the effects of climate, weather and climate and weather mediated effects of environment on biophysiological responses. For example, changes in levels of bronchoconstriction due to change in temperature is a direct effect of weather, and increase in allergies and asthma due to increase in bioaerosols in response to increase in precipitation and temperature is an indirect effect. Students will be exposed to general principles of toxicology and toxicological experimental design, including in-vitro and in-vivo experiments, designs needed to understand and investigate the health effects of climate, weather and climate mediated environmental conditions. The course objectives are to (1) understand general principles of toxicology, (2) understand biophysiological responses to climate, weather and weather anomalies, (3) develop an understanding of and skills in in-vitro and in-vivo experimental designs to assess toxicity of climate, and (4) characterize and quantify biophysiological responses in response to the trends and anomalies of weather and climate.
Prerequisite: BIL 150 or BMB 401 or CHM 111 or CHM 112 or CHM 201 or CHM 202.
EPH 727 – Climate, Environment, and Health: Data Integration and Management (3 cr)
The course will introduce: a) different research designs needed to understand the linkages between climate/weather and health, and b) sources and types of data needed for different research designs. The course will train students in: a) the integration and management of weather/climate, environment and health data sets that have different spatiotemporal scales, b) assessment of errors and uncertainty in the collocation of these data sets, and c) visualization, interpretation and presentation of these data sets, including covariance structure in these data sets.
Prerequisite: EPH 601.
EPH 633 - Policy & Management of the Health Effects of Climate (3 cr)
Using a health-centered approach, the course will provide critical review of the existing policies aimed at managing the health effects of climate/weather, identify potential gaps in the policies needed to improve and protect health effects of short- and long-term trends of climate and weather and extreme weather. Students will be exposed to real-world preparation and adaption strategies to manage health effects of climate, and develop understanding of and skills in the cost-benefit analysis of evidence-based policies. As a part of the course, students will develop and evaluate (evidence-based) policies to manage a selected health outcome with respect to a selected (in)direct climate/weather related condition(s).
EPH 658 - Analysis of the Health Effects of Climate (3 cr)
The course will train students in analytical skills needed to quantify the health risks associated with climate, weather and weather anomalies (or extreme weather) adjusting for confounding factors and time-space hierarchical structures. The course will include quantification of time-space lagged exposure estimation, spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal analyses, exposure and risk uncertainty analyses.
Prerequisite: EPH 727.
EPH 698 - MSPH Thesis Proposal (3 cr)
The course will train students in analytical skills needed to quantify the health risks associated with climate, weather and weather anomalies (or extreme weather) adjusting for confounding factors and time-space hierarchical structures. The course will include quantification of time-space lagged exposure estimation, spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal analyses, exposure and risk uncertainty analyses.
Prerequisite: EPH 727.
EPH 699 - MSPH Thesis (3 cr)
This is an independent study course. Students in the MSPH track may register for this course with an approval from the Capstone Manager and faculty advisor. The purpose of this course is to collect and analyze the data per thesis proposal, to prepare and write the thesis and deliver an oral presentation.
