Reducing infectious disease
USC features epidemiology associate professor Melissa Nolan, whose search for innovative ways to curb the impact of viral and insect-borne illness has earned her a Breakthrough Star Award.
What happens to children with diabetes when there isn’t enough food in the household? How can older individuals prevent falls? How can mothers reduce their risk of diabetes in pregnancy? These are some questions that our faculty are seeking to answer.
Epidemiologists design and conduct investigations aimed at improving the health of groups of people by combining knowledge from the social sciences, medicine, biology, the environment, and statistics. Epidemiologic studies provide evidence to inform recommendations for disease prevention, determine optimal treatments, and evaluate the effect of policies. The field is poised to rapidly grow in the future by harnessing developments in genetics, the microbiome, big data, and artificial intelligence to improve health. If you like biology, statistics, and computing, and want to make a difference to the health of large groups of people, epidemiology may be for you.
The Department of Epidemiology has 18 full-time faculty who are passionate about teaching and engaging with students. Students receive rigorous training to design and analyze epidemiologic studies and interpret and report their findings to scientific and public health communities through didactic and practical training. In addition to epidemiologic methods, the curriculum covers applied statistics, data management, and elective courses focused on substantive areas of epidemiology such as nutrition, cardiovascular disease, cancer, clinical trials, maternal and child health, infectious disease, environmental health, and social determinants of health.
Epidemiology is in high demand. Our graduates have taken up positions at top tier universities, the CDC, and the World Health Organization, academia, research, state and federal health departments, hospital systems, pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies, and non-profit organizations.
Degrees Offered
We offer eight advanced degrees in epidemiology and biostatistics. Each graduate degree has specific application deadlines and requirements.
- Master of Public Health in Epidemiology (MPH)
- ONLINE Master of Public Health in Epidemiology (MPH)
- Master of Science in Public Health in Epidemiology (MS)
- Ph.D. in Epidemiology
- Ph.D. in Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences (combination degree)
Epidemiology News
Faculty Award Winners recognized at annual Hooding Ceremony
The Arnold School is proud to announce the recipients of the 2023 Faculty Awards: James A. Keith Excellence in Teaching Award (Courtney Monroe), Faculty Research Award (Jihong Liu), and Faculty Service Award (Alicia Flach).
Physician completes third USC degree to address addiction for patients, populations
After graduating in May with an MPH in Epidemiology, Humna Fayyaz will continue her training in these areas with a fellowship in addiction medicine at the University of Illinois-Chicago Hospital.
Top graduate student award winners announced
The top master's and doctoral students were honored at the annual Hooding Ceremony. Sujal Patel (M.S. in Advanced Athletic Training) received the Jeffrey Keith Mattison Award, and Gabriel Benavidez won the Doctoral Achievement Award.
Staff Spotlight: Chase Ferch
As the epidemiology and biostatistics department's grant administrator, Chase Ferch oversees the pre-award and post-award management for all grant funding.
Student award winners announced
The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics is proud to announce the recipients of their 2023 Student Awards. These four students were selected for their outstanding performance both academically and outside the classroom.
Epidemiology graduate joins Rural and Minority Health Research Center
The Center's work aligns perfectly with Emma Boswell's passion for maternal and child health, particularly adverse childhood experiences, social determinants of health, rural health, social emotional health and early childhood.
Doctoral graduate joins CDC as Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer
Ph.D. in Epidemiology graduate Andrea Danielle Brown studies the relationships between food insecurity, social needs and mental health among youth and young adults with diabetes.