VCU epidemiology Ph.D. ground-breaking in Va.

Events such as Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S.-led war on Iraq and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic have exposed the need for a strong public health infrastructure.

It has also become apparent that there is an acute shortage of epidemiologists in the U.S. and in Virginia.

In April the VCU Board of Visitors approved the creation of a Ph.D. program in epidemiology, the first of its kind in Virginia. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia then approved the program in July.

“Public health has taken center stage in our country, especially since 9/11 with the threat of bioterrorism,” said Dr. Tilahun Adera, chairman of VCU’s Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health.

“There is a shortage of people trained in the protection of the public’s health in many sources, whether it is water, food, air,” he said. “People who are trained to recognize, identify and protect the public’s health are in so much demand. Epidemiology, the science of public health, would allow the professional to do just that.”

The program accepts students only during the fall semesters and this fall one student began the program. Several other students are in the process of applying and are expected to enter during the fall 2004 semester, said Dr. Elisabeth Turf, director of epidemiology.

Students who enter may come from a variety of backgrounds but they will be required to have a master’s degree in public health or the equivalent.

“They could come from biosciences or the social sciences, but the requirements are that the students have backgrounds in statistics, mathematics and biology,” Adera said. “Those are the basis (of epidemiology) and if they have that then they will be successful in this interdisciplinary field.”

Graduates of the program will find jobs in academia, government and industry.

“In academia they become faculty members in schools of public health, teaching epidemiology to students and doing research in their chosen area of expertise,” Adera said. “In the government, the National Institutes of Health are very interested in people who have degrees in epidemiology. And in industry, the drug companies, for example, are interested in hiring epidemiologists who could do analysis for them.”

Students in the epidemiology program will choose from a broad range of research areas to focus on at VCU. Faculty interests include occupational and environmental health, maternal-child health, the effect of asbestos on health, cancer, hearing loss and back pain.

“We expect students to have diverse areas of concentrations when they finish from this program,” Adera said. “Some students will focus on the genetics of diseases, others will be interested in cardiovascular issues and others will be interested in cancer.”

VCU is a natural choice for the establishment of the program because epidemiology is an interdisciplinary program that draws upon biostatistics, genetics and the social sciences – all existing programs at the university.

“The beauty of this (program) is that the facilities that are needed, the infrastructure, already exists on the MCV campus,” Adera said. He explained that five courses in epidemiology are already offered in the master’s of public health program and students will have the ability to draw from the resources of the departments of biostatistics and genetics in the School of Medicine, the Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research in the College of Humanities and Sciences, the Center for Public Policy and the Massey Cancer Center.

Faculty and students within the program will also collaborate with local and state health departments. An example of such a collaborative effort is where a faculty member from the department has a contract with the city of Richmond to protect their water system from any terrorist attack or contamination of the water sources through surveillance programs, Adera said.

Dr. Herman Ellis, the director of the Richmond City Department of Public Health, anticipates a close working relationship with the epidemiologists in the program.

“Our (Richmond Department of Health) goal is the use of evidence-based public health for the health of the residents of Richmond,” Ellis said. “They (VCU) will provide assistance in evidence-based public health and will help evaluate the data we already have in the department.”

Evidence-based healthcare uses the current best evidence from systematic research to make decisions in public health practice and developing public health policies and programs.

On the state level, the Virginia Department of Health needs a trained epidemiologist in each of its districts. The agency has not been able to fill many positions with Virginia citizens and is searching nationally, Adera said. Virginia is interested in creating internships for epidemiology students at VCU and employing graduates.

“The importance to the state can not be overemphasized,” Adera said. “In this day and age, people who are highly qualified who can actually do research in specific areas and who can come up with credible answers are very much in need. The program will train people who can do that.”