Overview

The Graduate Group in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (GGEB) is responsible for developing and administering the PhD degree programs in epidemiology and biostatistics as well as the MS program in biostatistics. The PhD programs train individuals to be rigorous and independent academic investigators, who are able to apply and extend the range of approaches available in epidemiology and biostatistics to address questions in biomedical research. The objective of the MS program in biostatistics is to train individuals in the basic theory and applications of statistical methods, especially as applied to problems in the health sciences.

The GGEB is a member of the Biomedical Graduate Studies Program (BGS) in the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. It is comprised of faculty from across the university with interests in biostatistics and epidemiology. Notably, many of the members of the Graduate Group have academic appointments within the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (DBEI). The Office of Biomedical Graduate Studies provides oversight and coordination for the GGEB and six other graduate groups offering PhD degrees in the biomedical sciences.

Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) was established in 1985 and serves as the academic home within the University of Pennsylvania for roughly 700 students pursuing a PhD in the basic biomedical sciences. Although BGS is housed within the School of Medicine, it is composed of more than 600 faculty members across seven Penn schools and several associated institutes. BGS provides training and administration through seven graduate groups, some of which have distinct sub-specialty areas. Each graduate group has its own training mission, leadership, and staff, but there is often significant overlap among the groups in respect to faculty membership, courses offered, policies, and procedures. BGS provides centralized support to the graduate groups for admissions, student fellowships, curricular oversight, record-keeping, and other operations.
 

Additional, up-to-date information about BGS is available at http://www.med.upenn.edu/bgs/.