Program Director's Message

The COVID-19 pandemic brought public health and epidemiology to the forefront of the public knowledge for the first time in recent memory. New priorities in public health practice include a focus on big data and real-time data sources, as well as a heightened attention to social determinants of health and structural solutions. Meeting the societal need for equitable public health infrastructure requires more individuals skilled in conducting research and translating results within public health, academic, and clinical settings. These changes demonstrate the need for more epidemiologists who not only have a focus on conducting clinical and public health research, but who are also well-attuned to the importance of community health and elevating the voices of minoritized communities, including LGBTQ+ and racial/ethnic minority populations. 

The MS in Epidemiology program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine provides rigorous, fast-paced training to prepare students for careers in public health and clinical epidemiological research. This degree complements the MS in Biostatistics and MPH degrees by providing a degree focused on the science of epidemiology. An MS in Epidemiology is also considered a degree in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), unlike an MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology.

The MS in Epidemiology differs from the MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology in several ways. Instead of an Applied Practice Experience and Culminating Experience, students will complete a one-year thesis project which allows them to directly apply their classroom learning into a tangible and publishable product. The MS in Epidemiology also prioritizes methodological coursework, allowing students to better focus on epidemiological study design and analytic approaches, rather than more general exposure to the field of public health. Further, the MS in Epidemiology is more flexible than the MPH, allowing both students and instructors to be responsive to training and career goals, and nimbly adjust coursework based on developments in public health.

Thank you for your interest in the MS in Epidemiology degree. Please contact us for more information.

Gregory Phillips II, PhD, MS
Program Director, Master of Epidemiology                                                                                                                            Co-Director, Community Health Research and Evaluation Concentration, MPH                                              Director, Evaluation, Data Integration, and Technical Assistance (EDIT) Program                              Associate Professor of Medical Social Sciences (Outcome and Measurement, and Determinants of Health) and Preventive Medicine (Epidemiology