Course Syllabus
Visiting professor : Murray A. Mittleman

CourseCreditEpidemiology
1

Method ofTeaching

Lecture and Seminar

Objective
The objective of this course is to provide students with a solid understanding of fundamental epidemiologic principles
and methods and to apply them to evaluate public health questions and develop skills in critiquing the epidemiologicand clinical research literature. The course will be taught with an emphasis on epidemiologic measures, study designand control of confounding.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. Understand the basic principles of epidemiology, including how to calculate and interpret measures of
disease frequency and association; epidemiologic study designs for descriptive and analytic studies; how tointerpret results from epidemiologic studies including cohort and case-control designs
2. Understand the concepts needed to identify sources of bias that may arise in epidemiologic studies including
confounding and selection bias
3. Be an informed consumer of the public health and epidemiologic literature
OutlineMeasures of Disease Frequency and Measures of Association: Characteristics of basic measures of
disease frequency (prevalence, cumulative incidence, incidence rates) and association (relative and absolutemeasures) with a focus on the use, interpretation, and relationship between these measures.
Epidemiologic Study Design: Characteristics, strengths and limitations of each of the major study designs
including descriptive and analytic studies with a focus on cohort and case-control approaches.
Sources of Bias in Epidemiology: Core concepts of confounding, selection bias, and recognizing thepresence of effect measure modification on the additive and multiplicative scales.

Class Schedule (90 minutes each)Day 1 (January 5, 2024)
1. Lecture: Measures of disease frequency and association (9:00-10:30)
2. Seminar: Measures of disease frequency and association (10:45-12:15)
Day 2 (January 6, 2024)
3. Lecture: Study design overview and cohort studies (9:00-10:30)
4. Seminar: Cohort study critique(10:45-12:15)

Day 3 (January 7, 2024)
5. Lecture: Case-control study design(9:00-10:30)

6. Seminar: Case-control critique(10:45-12:15)

Day 4 (January 8, 2024)
7. Lecture: Confounding and Selection bias (9:00-10:30)
8. Lecture: Effect measure modification
Examination (January 8, 2024):(10:45-12:15)(14:00-15:30)

We may add seminars by Japanese teachers for each to assist students with difficulty in language/background knowledge

Text
Rothman KJ. Epidemiology: An Introduction (2nd ed.) New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012
(ISBN-10 0199754551)
Related readings
Will be provided
Achievement evaluation
Students are expected to attend all classes, read the course material before coming to class, and actively
engage in course discussions.
There will be a written final exam after the completion of the course.

Course Syllabus
Visiting Professor: David Wypij
CourseBiostatistics: Principles of Clinical Trials

Credit1

Method ofTeaching

LectureOutline (subject to change)
This short course is designed to introduce basic principles in the design, conduct, and analysis of clinical trials including
scientific and management aspects. Topics include trial design (different study designs, the study cohort, study treatments,
treatment allocation methods, study outcomes, and sample size calculations), trial documents (protocols, statistical analysis
plans, data monitoring plan, consent documents, trial registration, case report forms, and manual of operations), and dataanalysis (interim trial monitoring, adverse events, final data analyses, subgroup analyses, multiple comparisons, handling of
missing data, and manuscript preparation). Use of the SPIRIT guidelines for protocol development and the CONSORT
guidelines for trial manuscript preparation will be an important component of the course. The course should be of benefit tostatisticians and quantitatively-oriented clinicians interested in working on clinical trials. Background in basic biostatistics(comparisons of two groups, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals) and regression methods (linear and logistic regression)is strongly recommended.
Class Schedule (90 minutes each) (subject to change)
Day 1 (January 9, 2024)
1.

Introduction to Clinical Trials (Overview, basics of drug development, basic study design, ethics)(9:00-10:30)
2.

Protocol Development (Study objectives, study outcomes, surrogate and composite endpoints, repeatedmeasurements, study population, SPIRIT guidelines)(11:00-12:30)

Day 2 (January 10, 2024)
3. Treatment Allocation and Blinding (Randomization methods, blocking, stratification, adaptive randomization,
types of blinding)(9.00-10.30 am)

4. Sample Size Considerations (Type I error and power, adjustment for multiple comparisons, nonadherence,noncompliance, and dropouts) (11:00-12:30)
Day 3 (January 11, 2024)
5. Statistical Analysis Plan and Operational Issues (Multiple endpoints and hypotheses, data analysis plan,unadjusted vs. adjusted analyses, exploratory analyses, case report forms, manuals of operation)(9:00-10:30am)

6. Study Monitoring and Interim Analyses (Data Monitoring Committees, adverse events and safety data,
outcome data, early study stopping, group sequential methods, conditional power)(11:00-12:30)

Day 4 (January 12, 2024)
7. Example of a Clinical Trial from Start to Finish, including the CONSORT guidelines (9:00-10:30)
8. Modern Developments (Novel designs, personalized medicine, and the future of clinical trials)(11:00-12:30)

Written Exam (January 12, 2024): (13.30-15.00pm)
We may add seminars by Japanese teachers for each to assist students with difficulty in language/background knowledgeRecommended Text (subject to change)
Fundamentals of Clinical Trials, Fifth Edition, Lawrence M. Friedman, Curt D. Furberg, David L. DeMets, David M.
Reboussin, Christopher B. Granger, Springer, 2015.
Clinical Trials: A Methodologic Perspective, Third Edition, Steven Piantadosi, Wiley, 2017.
Related readings
Handout of lecture slides will be made available prior to the lecture.
Achievement evaluation (subject to change)
There will be a written final exam about the course contents scheduled in the class upon completion of the course.

Course Syllabus
Visiting professor : Ichiro Kawachi
CourseCreditBehavioral Science / Social Epidemiology
1

Method ofTeaching

LectureObjective
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the major social variables -- social class, gender, poverty, income
distribution, social networks/support, community cohesion, the psychosocial work environment and neighborhood contexts-- that affect population health.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:•Describe the theories (mechanisms and pathways) through which education affects health, health behavior, andillness.

•Describe the three theories linking income distribution to population health.

•Identify community-level determinants of health, such as neighborhood assets (e.g. social capital) and deficits (e.g.
concentrated disadvantage).

•Compare and contrast compositional versus contextual influences of neighborhood environments on health.

•Discuss the mechanisms and pathways by which neighborhood contexts influence population health.

•Define and describe measurement approaches to assess social networks, social support, and social capital.

•Describe the mechanisms through which social networks affect health outcomes.

•

Describe the demand/control model of job stress.

•Understand the behavioral economics concepts of “scarcity” and the sadness trap, and describe how they influence
behaviors.

Outline
The course covers the theoretical underpinnings of each construct, their measurement, and empirical research linking each topopulation health status. Methods are introduced to operationalize each construct for the purposes of empirical applicationin epidemiologic research.
Class Schedule (90 minutes each)Day 1 (January 14, 2024)
1. Introduction to the social determinants of health (9:00-10:30)
2. Socio-economic status, Measurement and causal evidence (10:45-12:15)
Day 2 (January 15, 2024)

3. Income distribution and health (9:00-10:30)
4. Social networks, social support, and health (10:45-12:15)
Day 3 (January 16, 2024)
5. Neighborhood contexts and health (9:00-10:30)
6. Social capital, social cohesion and health (10:45-12:15)
Day 4 (January 17, 2024)
7. Psychosocial work envrionment and health (9:00-10:30)
8. Behavioral economics and public health (10:45-12:15)
Examination (January 17, 2024): (14:00-15:30)
We may add seminars by Japanese teachers for each to assist students with difficulty in language/background knowledge
Text
Berkman LF, Kawachi I & Glymour MM. (2nd ed). Social Epidemiology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Related readings
Kawach I. “Inochi no Kakusa wa Tomerareruka”. Shogakukan 101 Shinsho, 2013 [in Japanese].
Achievement evaluation
1.5-hour in-class written examination consisting of 3 short-essay questions

Course Syllabus
CourseCreditVisiting professor : Jaime Hart

Occupational and Environmental Health
1Method of Teaching

Lecture and Seminar

ObjectiveThe objective of this course is to provide students with a solid understanding of the fundamental principles and methods
used in occupational and environmental health and to understand how to best apply them to evaluate public healthquestions and develop skills in critiquing the literature.
At the end of the course the student will be able to:1.

Undertand how occupational and environmental exposures are measured and how they can impact health2.

Understand how to assess potential sources of bias in studies of occupational and envirionmental exposures
including confounding and selection bias.

3.

Critique scientific manuscripts in occupational and environmental health

OutlineThis course provides an introduction to occupational and environmental health, so that students can describe andapply basic concepts of of exposure assessment and epidemiology, to the evaluation and decision-making related toissues such as air pollution, occupational hazards, built environment, and climate change.
Class Schedule (90 minutes each)Day 1 (January 18, 2024)
Session 1 Lecture: Overview and Introduction to Occupational and Environmental Health (9:00-10:30)
Session 2 Lecture: Environmental and Occupational Study Designs (10:45-12:15)
Day 2 (January 19, 2024)
Session 3 Lecture: Health Effects of Air Pollution (9:00-10:30)
Session 4 Seminar: Environmental Study Critique (10:45-12:15)
Day 3 (January 20, 2024)
Session 5 Lecture: Health Effects of Nature and the Built Environment (9:00-10:30)
Session 6 Lecture: Health Effects of Climate Change (10:45-12:15)
Day 4 (January 21, 2024)
Session 7 Lecture: The Healthy Worker Effect in Occupational Health Studies (13:05-14:35)
Session 8 Seminar: Occupational Study Critique (14:40-16:20)

Examination (January 21, 2024): (16:35-18:05)
We may add seminars by Japanese teachers to assist students with difficulty in language/background knowledge
Text
None
Related readings
Will be made available in advance of the lecture.
Achievement evaluation
Students are expected to attend all classes, read the course material before coming to class, and actively engage incourse discussions.
There will be a written final exam after the completion of the course.

Course Syllabus
Visiting professor : Alastair Gray
CourseCredit

Health Policy Management1

Method ofTeaching

LectureObjectiveTo introduce students to the methods and uses of health economic analysis. By the end of the course students should befamiliar with the main methods used by health economists, and the main uses to which economics can be put in the area ofhealth and health care.
Outline
The course will consist of 8 lectures over 4 days. It will begin with a broad introduction to economics and health economics.
It will then demonstrate some of the main tools of economic analysis and how these can be applied in health and health care.
The course will then examine the main steps involved in evaluating health interventions: measuring costs, measuring andvaluing quality of life, modelling and extrapolation, and using cost-effectiveness to set priorities and make decisions.
Class Schedule (90 minutes each)Day 1 (January 21, 2024)
1. Economics, health and health economics (9:00-10:30 am)

What is economics; what is health economics; health care spending: international trends; health carespending: composition and explanations. Health and wealth.
2. Applying economic tools to health and health care (11:00-12:30am)
Supply and demand; the market for health and health care; market failure and its consequences
Day 2 (January 22, 2024)
3. Costs (9:00-10:30 am)
Costs, prices and opportunity costs. Which perspective: the patient, the health system, the employer, society. How tocollect cost information. Analysing and reporting cost data. Time horizon, discounting, dealing with missing data.
4. Cost of illness and burden of disease (11:00-12:30am)
What are cost of illness studies; what do they tell us; the Global Burden of Disease study; some national examples andtheir uses; using cost of illness data to inform research spending priorities.

Day 3 (January 23, 2024)
5. Measuring and valuing quality of life (9:00-10:30am)
Why measure quality of life? Some common instruments and questionnaires; valuing health states: the time trade-off
and standard gamble. Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYYs), and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Otherapproaches, such as willingness to pay.
6. Disease modelling and decision models (11:00-12:30am)
Why disease models are useful: for prognosis, for prediction, for extrapolation. How they are built and validated. Somecommon examples in heart disease, cancer and diabetes. A closer look at a diabetes model: its development and use.
Day 4 (January 24, 2024)
7. Using cost-effectiveness analysis to set priorities (9:00-10:30am)
What is priority-setting? Using cost-effectiveness to set priorities. What is a cost-effectiveness analysis. What is acost-benefit analysis? Taking account of costs and effects. Interpreting cost-effectiveness studies. Examples ofcost-effectiveness analyses in diabetes and cancer. Cost-effectiveness databases.
8. Using cost-effectiveness to make reimbursement decisions ; the example of NICE in the UK (11:00-12:30am)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; why it was set up; how it works; some controversies in the way
it works and its decisions; other international reimbursement bodies. Looking into the future.
Examination (January 24, 2024): (2:00-3:30pm)
We may add seminars by Japanese teachers for each to assist students with difficulty in language/background knowledge
Text
I do not propose to have set readings for each lecture. At the end of each lecture I will provide some further reading andreferences.
Related readings
I do not propose to have set readings for each lecture. At the end of each lecture I will provide some further reading andreferences.
Achievement evaluation
Students will be tested by oral examination “Oxford style” at the end of the course.