Biostatistics and Epidemiology

The course is divided into two modules. The epidemiology module aims to develop knowledge on methodologies for evaluating the appropriateness and validity of observational studies and tools to quantify how exposure to a risk (or protective) factor can affect the health of a population. In addition, the course aims to i) define the type of study most suitable for answering questions relating to the relationship between exposure and health in the population ii) the computational methods to quantify possible relationships and their strength iii) to provide tools to critically evaluate the epidemiological literature. The biostatistics module aims to develop the ability to use appropriate methodological tools to critically evaluate the quality of clinical research in particular for the aspects of study planning and their internal validity. The course aims to define the most suitable types of analysis in relation to the end-points adopted. This module will also address the problems related to the reproducibility of clinical research, also in relation to the ethical aspects of biomedical research, and the different approaches to statistical inference.

At the end of the epidemiology module the student should be able to recognize and evaluate appropriate study designs to answer questions related to the causality of diseases, evaluate possible errors, strengths and weaknesses depending on the research question and critically read the literature.
The aim of the biostatistics module is to develop the ability to critically evaluate the results of clinical studies, both experimental and observational, through the learning of the principles of the study design and analysis of clinical trials and the concept of statistical inference, and to evaluate the type of analysis adopted in relation to the end-point of the study.