Welcome from Dept. Head

The Department of Epidemiology is just sailing along maintaining
a steady course but also increasing its educational mission and reaching out to staff, students, and alumni.

We now have 13 primary faculty. Tara Smith PhD came in December from the University of Michigan . There are over 40 secondary and adjunct faculty and approximately 80 students in the program. Add to that the staff we have a Department of over 300. You will see changes to the website with sections devoted to faculty, staff, students and alumni and secured pages with updated information. We hope this will enhance our communication.

The Department of Epidemiology along with the College has expanded its degree offerings. A new MS in Clinical Investigation is awaiting final approval. The MPH is in expansion in subtracks and focus areas. Interest from undergraduate students, health care professionals and persons re-training has increased enrollments. The current status of Epi students is about 1/3 PhD, 1/3 MS and 1/3 MPH. The Department has developed competencies for each and ASPH has recently published new criteria for MPH students. The College will be implementing them in the future. The Department has been expanding opportunities for students on a national and international scale. Linkages with alumni and development of new international opportunities will be a focus of this year.

Research is as active part of what we do. Still the Iowa Cancer Registry and the Iowa Congenital and Inherited Disorders Registry remain the hallmarks of our ongoing surveillance and research in cancer and birth defects. The Lipid Research Program is doing more research in preventive cardiology under the direction of Jennifer Robinson, MD, MPH. The Preventive Intervention Center is reinventing itself with the end of the Women's Health Initiative. Dr. Neal Kohatsu has developed a Healthful Living Program to do primary prevention counseling. The Health Effectiveness Research Center (HERCe) is conducting research using large claims databases and making outstanding contributions to policy. New to the Department is the Nutrition Center which is a resource for education and research under the direction of Linda Snetselaar. Laboratory-based research has expanded under Greg Gray and Tara Smith through the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and under Elaine Smith in cancer molecular epidemiology related to HPV infection. Additional research in cancer outcomes, skin cancer risk, pregnancy outcomes, and osteoarthritis are keeping the knowledge generation ongoing.

The University is focusing on community activities through the Year of Engagement. The Department has been a partner with communities, with the state and nationally. From the registries, to intervention studies, to providing data and experience to the Healthy Iowans 2010 the faculty, staff and students are contributing to the public health. The demonstration of the amount and the continued effort in community engagement will be a prevailing theme.

While we are facing limited resources because of the state contribution to the University of Iowa and the flattening of the research funding, the Department remains consistently strong research and educational program. The expansion of faculty will be slow and will focus on young faculty and expansion of existing strengths. Additional partners will be sought to expand the opportunities for students and research. This will alter our course slightly but will give us a new chance to address some of the emerging health problems. We look forward to the new challenges.

Sincerely,
James C. Torner, PhD
Professor and Head
Department of Epidemiology
200 Hawkins Drive, C-21P-1 GH
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242
(T) 319-384-5001
(E) james-torner@uiowa.edu