MPH graduate secures prestigious applied epidemiology fellowship
Graduate school has taught Naomi Higgins what type of epidemiologist she wants to be - someone who works in the field or a lab rather than purely crunching numbers behind a desk.
What happens to children with diabetes when there isn’t enough food in the household? How can older individuals prevent falls? How can mothers reduce their risk of diabetes in pregnancy? These are some questions that our faculty are seeking to answer.
Epidemiologists design and conduct investigations aimed at improving the health of groups of people by combining knowledge from the social sciences, medicine, biology, the environment, and statistics. Epidemiologic studies provide evidence to inform recommendations for disease prevention, determine optimal treatments, and evaluate the effect of policies. The field is poised to rapidly grow in the future by harnessing developments in genetics, the microbiome, big data, and artificial intelligence to improve health. If you like biology, statistics, and computing, and want to make a difference to the health of large groups of people, epidemiology may be for you.
The Department of Epidemiology has 18 full-time faculty who are passionate about teaching and engaging with students. Students receive rigorous training to design and analyze epidemiologic studies and interpret and report their findings to scientific and public health communities through didactic and practical training. In addition to epidemiologic methods, the curriculum covers applied statistics, data management, and elective courses focused on substantive areas of epidemiology such as nutrition, cardiovascular disease, cancer, clinical trials, maternal and child health, infectious disease, environmental health, and social determinants of health.
Epidemiology is in high demand. Our graduates have taken up positions at top tier universities, the CDC, and the World Health Organization, academia, research, state and federal health departments, hospital systems, pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies, and non-profit organizations.
Degrees Offered
We offer eight advanced degrees in epidemiology and biostatistics. Each graduate degree has specific application deadlines and requirements.
- Master of Public Health in Epidemiology (MPH)
- ONLINE Master of Public Health in Epidemiology (MPH)
- Master of Science in Epidemiology (MS)
- Ph.D. in Epidemiology
Epidemiology News
Three students selected to win epidemiology and biostatistics awards
The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics is proud to announce the recipients of their 2026 Student Awards. These students were selected for their outstanding performance both academically and outside the classroom.
Epidemiology alumna Chelsea Richard named in SCBiz Top 100 Women list
SCBiz recently recognized the state's highest achieving women from across South Carolina and an array of fields for their impact in the areas of leadership, community service and mentorship.
2025-2026 SPARC Graduate Research Grants awarded to 10 Arnold School graduate students
Ten of the 41 2025-2026 Support to Promote Advancement of Research and Creativity (SPARC) Graduate Research Grants from the USC Office of the Vice President for Research have been awarded to Arnold School graduate students.
USC inks licensing agreement for prostate cancer screening tool
20/20 Biolabs Inc. will commercialize a patented technology developed by James Hébert, Health Sciences Distinguished Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, to assess health risks from rising levels of prostate-specific antigen.
Senior maternal and child health epidemiologist earns second degree to improve health in SC
Over the past several years, Carlos Avalos has developed research interests in diabetes epidemiology, mental health outcomes, and youth and young adult populations.