Public Health was defined by C-E.A. Winslow as the science and the art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts with the goal of enabling every citizen to realize his/her birthright of health and longevity.
The disciplines of epidemiology and biostatistics are essential to achieving the goals of public health, and combining these two disciplines in a single department creates synergies for both training and research. Epidemiologists study the distribution and determinants of health and disease in populations. Biostatisticians develop and apply statistical theory, methods and techniques to public health research data and the planning, implementation and evaluation of public health programs. Given the strong overlap, epidemiologists and biostatisticians often collaborate to work toward the shared goal of generating and analyzing data to advance the public’s health.
Within the department, the degree programs are administered under two separate streams, the Division of Epidemiology and Division of Biostatistics.
Find out more about the department and what we offer in our welcome from the Chair.
We offer eight advanced degrees in epidemiology and biostatistics. Each graduate degree has specific application deadlines and requirements.
Graduate students from across the Arnold School have earned 2020-2021 SPARC Graduate Research Grants from the UofSC Office of the Vice President for Research to fund individual scholarship initiatives.
Ph.D. in Epidemiology student Gabriel Benavidez is collaborating with three other members from his cohort to lead a Health Policy Research Scholars COVID and Anti-Racism Pilot Project with support from a $35K grant from the program.
Professor of epidemiology Anwar Merchant has been awarded $400K from the National Institute on Aging. He will use the two-year, R21 grant to examine the relationship between four groups of antibodies against periodontal microorganisms and Alzheimer’s disease.
The National Human Genome Research Institute has awarded $426K to Feifei Xiao to examine the links (e.g., disease risk and mechanisms) between copy number variation and lung cancer.
Biostatistics student Xizhi Luo is pursuing a Ph.D. to advance the fields of cancer genomics (i.e., the genetic basis for cancer development) and clinical trial design for research that examines the impact of drugs/treatment.
Maria Sevoyan joined the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and spent the next several years amassing knowledge and experience in new epidemiology methods, analytical skills and techniques to use in clinical and public health research.