The mission of the Masters of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics program at Northwestern University is to train postdoctoral and predoctoral scientists to apply current methods of epidemiology and biostatistics in conducting research on a range of health problems facing the population. Postdoctoral students will leave our program prepared to seek grant funding and faculty positions in fields related to population science. Predoctoral students will leave prepared to support ongoing research efforts by serving as statistical analysts or project coordinators.

Target audiences:

Postdoctoral research scholars whose backgrounds are in medicine, nursing, basic science or the social sciences who wish to expand their research training in the design (epidemiology) and analysis (biostatistics) of population studies, who follow the Investigator track
Predoctoral science or research majors who are interested in supporting population science by serving as statistical analysts and/or study project coordinators, who follow the Statistical Analyst track

Program Overview:

The Program in Public Health in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University has developed an intensive four-quarter (1 calendar year) Master of Science degree program in epidemiology and biostatistics (MSEB). All students share a common three-quarter core series in epidemiology and biostatistics, a workshop-style course addressing common challenges in research design, and training in the ethical conduct of research. Postdoctoral MSEB students will receive additional training in scientific writing and grant preparation, while predoctoral students will receive additional training in sophisticated statistical methods, data management and programming. The culminating project for postdoctoral MSEB students is a thesis of sufficient quality to be published as an original manuscript or meta-analysis in a peer reviewed journal or a research grant that is ready to be submitted for external competitive review. Predoctoral students will serve as consultants in our Biostatistics Consulting Laboratory and submit a comprehensive professional quality “client report” as their final project. The relatively small number of students in our program encourages close interaction between students and faculty in the Department who have ongoing research programs and collaborations across the university. Our goal is to train professionals in applied population research methodology so that they can begin careers as research directors, research support staff or use our program as a basis for future doctoral level studies.