EHS Track Course Requirements

Certificate Program in Environmental Health Sciences

Course Requirements:

A unique curriculum has been designed to provide training to span the disciplines of translational environmental health sciences. This curriculum takes the place of the Graduate Group electives and is designed not to delay the time to attain the PhD degree. Upon completion of the didactic curriculum, trainees will have completed the requirements for the Certificate in Environmental Health Sciences. Upon completion of their thesis, trainees will receive the Certificate in Environmental Health Sciences and a PhD from their graduate group

The curriculum of the Certificate Program in Environmental Health Sciences is shown below:

Curriculum for Certificate Program in Environmental Health Sciences

First Year

Second Year

Fall Semester:

Introduction to Genome Science: GCB 531

Cell Biology & Biochemistry:
BIOM 600

Required Graduate Group Courses

1 c.u.

2 c.u.

Fall Semester:

Occupational & Environmental Health: PUBH 503

Statistical Methods & Data Analysis: BSTA 630

Required Courses, Electives or Lab Rotation

1 c.u.

2 c.u.

Spring Semester:

Molecular Toxicology:
PHRM 590

Required Graduate Group Course

Electives or Lab Rotation

1 c.u.

2 c.u.

Spring Semester:

Electives or Lab Rotation

Thesis Proposal Candidacy Examination

2 c.u.

Summer Semester:

Introductory Epidemiology:
EPID 510

Biostatistics for Epidemiology:
EPID 526

Lab Rotation

0.5 c.u.

2 c.u.

Summer Semester:

Enter Thesis Laboratory

Years 3 to 5: Thesis Research

Rotations:

Students are required to do three rotations. One rotation can be taken in the summer before matriculation. One rotation must involve a mentored community-based experience or epidemiology/population based study. Rotations must be done in the lab of a CEET investigator.

Course Descriptions:

Cell Biology and Biochemistry: BIOM600 (Mandatory)
This survey course covers basic biochemistry and topics of cell biology including: cell structure, compartmentalization and trafficking, signal transduction, cytoskeleton, membranes and membrane transport and provides an essential base knowledge to understand the effects of toxicants at the molecular and cellular level.

Introduction to Genome Science: GCB/PHRM 531 (Mandatory)
This course serves as an introduction to the laboratory and theoretical aspects of genomics and computational biology. The main topics discussed center around the analysis of sequences (annotation, alignment, homology, gene finding, variation between sequences, phylogeny reconstruction/estimation), and the functional analysis of genes (expression levels, genotyping, proteomics, screens for mutants), together with a discussion of gene mapping, linkage disequilibrium, genetics of complex diseases, and integrative genomics.This course provides a base knowledge from which to study gene-environment interactions.

Molecular Toxicology: Chemical and Biological Mechanisms: PHRM 590 (Mandatory) Exposures to foreign compounds (drugs, carcinogens, pollutants) can disrupt normal cellular processes leading to toxicity. This course will focus on the molecular mechanisms by which environmental exposures lead to end-organ injury and to diseases of environmental etiology (neurodegenerative and lung diseases, reproduction disruption and cardiovascular injury). Students will learn the difficulties in modeling response to low-dose chronic exposures, how these exposures are influenced by metabolism and disposition, and how biological reactive intermediates alter the function of biomolecules. Mechanisms responsible for cellular damage, aberrant repair, and end-organ injury will be discussed. Students will learn about modern predictive molecular toxicology to classify toxicants, predict individual susceptibility and response to environmental triggers, and how to develop and validate biomarkers for diseases of environmental etiology. Students are expected to write a term paper on risk assessment on an environmental exposure using available TOXNET information.

Introductory Epidemiology: EPI 510 (Mandatory)
This course is a series of lectures and workshops, designed to teach basic principles of epidemiologic research design. The course provides an overview of the types of research questions that can be addressed by epidemiologic methods. Topics covered include: definitions of epidemiology; measures of disease frequency; measures of effect and association; epidemiologic study designs, both experimental and non-experimental; and an overview of analysis of epidemiologic studies

Biostatistics for Epidemiologic Methods: EPI 526 (Mandatory)
Only the the first half of this course (0.5 c.u.) will be taken since a more in-depth treatment of biostatistics is given in BSTA630. The course covers descriptive statistics, probability, discrete and continuous distributions, estimation, confidence intervals, regression and correlation methods and one sample hypothesis testing. Emphasis is placed on understanding the proper application and underlying assumptions of the methods presented. Laboratory sessions focus on the use of the STATA statistical package and applications to clinical data.

Environmental and Occupational Health: PUBH 503 (Mandatory)
This course will provide a broad introduction to the scientific basis of environmental and occupational health. Content will address issues in the ambient, occupational and global environments as well as the tools, concepts and methods used in environmental health. Each student will develop skills through completion of an in-depth critical scientific analysis of a current environmental health problem. Topics covered include: evaluation and risk assessment of environmental hazards, the ambient environment (chemical releases, radiation, air, water and soil pollution, hazardous waste, pesticides and food additives) and impacts on health, remediation of such hazards, occupational environment and global environmental changes and affects on health; and vulnerable populations.

Statistical Methods and Data Analysis: BSTA 630 (Mandatory)
This course focuses on the analysis of continuous data. Topics include descriptive statistics (measures of central tendency and dispersion, shapes of distributions, graphical representations of distributions, transformations, and testing for goodness of fit); populations and sampling (hypotheses of differences and equivalence, statistical errors); one- and two-sample t tests; analysis of variance; correlation; nonparametric tests on means and correlations; estimation (confidence intervals and robust methods); and regression modeling (simple linear regression, multiple regression, model fitting and testing, partial correlation, residuals, multicollinearity). Examples of medical and biologic data will be used throughout the course, and use of computer software demonstrated.

Electives (Optional): The following electives are highly recommended:

Methods for Statistical Genetics in Complex Human Disease: BSTA 787
This is an introductory course for graduate students in Biostatistics, Statistics, Epidemiology, Bioinformatics and other BGS disciplines which will cover statistical methods for the analysis of family and population based genetic data. Topics covered will include allele frequency estimation, classical segregation and linkage analysis, multipoint linkage tests, general pedigree analysis, family-based association analysis and population based haplotype analysis. Students will be exposed to the latest statistical methodology and computer tools on gene mapping in complex human disease. They will also read and evaluate current statistical human genetics literature.

Mechanisms of Disease: BIOM 502
During BIOM 502, several human diseases will be studied, focusing on the mechanism of the disease, the clinical presentation and how our understanding of the disease mechanism affects current treatment regimens and well as offers research opportunities for new approaches to treatment. The specific diseases studied change yearly. Some of the diseases studied in prior years include diabetes, breast cancer, colon cancer, HIV / AIDS, and atherosclerosis. Student obtain background information via the medical school “Virtual Curriculum” and read and discuss papers weekly. Grading is based on a presentation at the end of the course demonstrating the connection between mechanism, clinical presentation and treatment in a disease of the student’s choice.

Neuropharmacology/Neurochemistry: PHRM 510
Course provides a general overview of the signaling properties of the nervous system. Also provides in-depth information on neurotransmitter and associated signaling systems. Emphasis is placed on the wealth of new molecular information that is being gathered to examine how cells of the nervous system function and communicate.

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