The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics applies, develops, and teaches the skills needed to understand the determinants of disease and improve health. We teach students the descriptive and analytic approaches (epidemiology) needed to investigate the complex causes of major public health problems and to develop effective strategies to prevent them. The biostatistics program centers on the development and application of theory and methods in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data used in public health and other biomedical sciences.

• Our students are trained to become expert researchers and public health workers capable of investigating complex urban and community health challenges. Through practicum experiences students learn to apply descriptive and analytic methods and theory to real-world problems.
  
  
• The department’s faculty conduct pioneering research in many areas, including aging; autism; biostatistical methods; cancer; cardiovascular disease; environmental risk factors; infectious disease and prevention; social and neighborhood determinants of health.
  
  
• Our graduates enjoy rewarding careers in national and local disease-prevention organizations, community-based organizations, industry, academia, government, and global public health.

Latest Research

Disease Outbreaks Are Increasing. A Drexel Study Shows that Legislators are Taking Action

Vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) outbreaks are increasing in frequency in the United States, but this trend is also met with an uptick in legislation aimed at increasing childhood vaccination in places where those epidemics occurred, according to findings published in JAMA Pediatrics from researchers at the Dornsife. Neal D. Goldstein, PhD, an assistant research professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, was the lead author.