Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] What is Epidemiology?

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004, Brent Deterding wrote:

> I know Mike is a professor of this - but never knew what exactly is is.
> The web page up at Univ of MN basically says it is the study and
> analysis of disease prevention and health promotion.
> http://www.epi.umn.edu/
>
> So Mike - I have some questions :)
>
> Do you use difference equations in analyzing the spread of disease? It
> would seem you need a bunch of ppl with PHDs in Math who are also MDs?

I actually work in Genetic Epidemiology - the study of genetic factors in
disease occurrence.  Broadly, there's infectious disease (ID) epi (TB,
AIDS, Lyme disease, flu, etc., etc.) and there's chronic disease epi
(cancer, heart disease, psychiatric illness, etc.).

I don't know a lot about ID epi.  I think it is more mathematically
difficult because of the spatial and temporal issues in disease
transmission.

We do have PhDs in several fields -- statistics, biostatistics,
epidemiology (of course), psychology -- and we have MDs too.


> You have a PHD is Psychology, correct? So I take it you focus on mental
> disease as it affects entire populations? Kind of like macro-psychology?

Most psychology PhDs who work in my division are working on things like
drinking, smoking, sexually transmitte disease and obesity -- where health
outcomes are strongly influenced by behavior.  They are mostly interested
in how to get people to behave in healthy ways.  I am different from them.
My background was in psychopathology research with a strong interest in
genetic effects on psychiatric disorders.  I have 3 master's degrees and a
PhD... MS in Psychology, MS in Biometry (statistical methods in biology,
mostly in genetics), MPE in Psychiatric Epidemiology and my PhD was in
Psychology, specifically in Experimental Psychopathology.  My postdoc was
in Psychiatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, but that really meant
statistical methods in genetic epidemiology focusing on psychiatric
problems.


> So, do places like the CDC work with departments like yours to estimate
> the spread of disease?

They seem to work with state health departments to do the surveillance.


> Do departments such as yours spearhead efforts to develop solutions to
> prevent disease? I heard of one recently called Sadiz (spelling is
> mangled) which uses sunlight and a plastic bottle to make water
> drinkable and dramatically reduce water-borne disease.

We could do such things here, but right now I don't think we have much
going on with that kind of thing.  Sad fact is we're down to our last ID
epidemiologist and we really have to expand in that area.


> Any random strange factoids you can spit out that a non-Epidemiologist
> might find interesting?

How about this...

http://snipurl.com/4tok


> Thanks! I like to know these things - it keeps parties interesting :)
> <-- for me at least

So true...

http://taxa.epi.umn.edu/~mbmiller/pics/cartoons/epidemiologist.jpg

;-)

Best,

Mike
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