Overview

 

Our Mission

The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Western Ontario is dedicated to the expert application and teaching of epidemiological and health services research methods, and to the discovery of new research methods, to improve population health.

 

Our Vision

As a community of scholars, our vision for the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics is to grow in strength and numbers as we continue to be recognized for prominence in research, innovation in teaching and excellence in graduate education. 

 

Our Activities & Expertise

The Department offers a graduate program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, which is one of the oldest in Canada, having awarded its first MSc in 1947 and its first PhD in 1950. The number of graduate degree students has increased to a current enrolment of 55-60 graduate students. An innovative graduate certificate in clinical epidemiology was introduced in 1995. The faculty is also committed to excellence in teaching in the M.D. program and in the Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMSc) program.

Our dominant areas of historical strength are population health and biostatistics. An emerging area of strength is health services research.

Areas of methodological expertise include:

  • measurement of the determinants of health

  • measuring inter-observer agreement

  • cluster randomization methods

  • community-based prevention field trials

  • survey methods including complex survey designs

  • health economics

  • program evaluation

  • clinical trials

Topic areas of interest to faculty include:

  • health policy

  • maternal and child health

  • adolescent risk behaviors

  • falls prevention among the elderly

  • pharmaco-epidemiology

  • home care

  • occupational health

  • mental health

  • diabetes mellitus

Some specific examples of current projects led by faculty based in Epidemiology & Biostatistics department include:

  • development of statistical methodology for correlated data

  • development of statistical methods for meta-analysis of cluster randomization trials

  • studies in health economics: the development and application of methods for health services research

  • psycho-social, infectious, endocrine and nutritional determinants of pre-term birth

  • factors associated with smoking initiation in adolescents

  • prevention trials in Type 1 diabetes

  • assessment of health among carbon black workers

  • quality of life in childhood cancer survivors and children with epilepsy

  • falls prevention among the elderly

  • London community resources and health

In addition to 10 "base complement" faculty for whom Epidemiology & Biostatistics is their "home" department, there are 38 cross-appointed faculty from clinical and basic departments and research institutes who play an integral role in the research, teaching and service mandates of the department.

 

Our Shared Department Values

Underlying our ultimate goals and our proposed strategies for achieving them is a set of core values shared by members of the Department.  As a Department we value:

  • excellence in independent programs of research and in teaching that contributes to the community through discovery, imparting and applying knowledge

  • collaborative research that contributes to shared excellence in our academic community

  • support of our peers in the form of mentorship to faculty members, respect for one another's time and support for one another's research

  • recruitment and retention of faculty through a variety of mechanisms including partnerships with other departments and institutions

  • availability of faculty to colleagues, students and staff

  • open and shared communication

 

Celebrating 60 years of Educating Graduate Students