20 102 Macroepidemiology Be 102 Spring 2005

Understanding the large-scale patterns of human disease and mortality is essential for addressing modern public health challenges. This course introduces you to the foundational concepts of macroepidemiology, helping you decipher how major diseases like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions impact populations over time. By completing this course, you will learn how to read, interpret, and build analytical models that estimate population risk factors, distinguish between inherited and environmental risks, and apply population genetics principles to epidemiological data. What you'll learn: • Understand the fundamental terminology and concepts of macroepidemiology and population health data. • Analyze historical trends in major causes of mortality, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infectious illnesses. • Build analytical models to estimate population-level risk factors and physiological rate parameters. • Evaluate familial data to separately calculate inherited versus environmental health risks. • Apply basic population genetics to model dominant, recessive, and non-deleterious risk factors. • Explore modern data-driven epidemiology techniques and public health databases used in research today. The course starts with essential definitions and foundational principles of population health before guiding you through historical mortality analyses, modeling techniques, and genetic risk assessment. Through structured written explanations and practical analytical exercises, you will develop a robust framework for quantitative epidemiological analysis. This text-based course is designed for beginners in public health, biology, or data science, requiring no prior background in epidemiology. Start reading today to unlock the analytical skills needed to understand global health trends.