Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

The Epidemiology and Prevention Research Group (EPRG) is part of the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. The Epidemiology and Prevention Research Group (EPRG) is dedicated to:

1) Thoroughly documenting and understanding important public health problems facing vulnerable populations with a variety of mental disorders such as drug dependence and pathological gambling, 2) Thinking and acting boldly for those populations by offering innovative community-based interventions, 3) Preparing future generations of scientists for productive research careers in epidemiology, with an emphasis on behavioral risk factors, and 4) Training staff and fellows in the responsible conduct of science.

The EPRG offers the Master of Psychiatric Epidemiology, the only program of its kind in the world. This program offers fundamental epidemiological and research skills, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary studies within a medical school environment. The program is noted for its public health focus, as it encompasses prevention, treatment and intervention research. It also strongly emphasizes training in the responsible conduct of science.

Candidates develop practical research skills and learn basic epidemiological methods that can be applied to many disciplines. They study the history and development of the major national and international psychiatric epidemiology studies, and they become familiar with diagnostic instruments commonly used in the field. Students learn how to organize and manage population surveys, including design, data collection and data analysis. Instructors in the program are experienced research investigators, with productive research teams.

Students come from backgrounds such as public health, social work, engineering, nursing, mathematics, psychology, anthropology and others. The overall objective of the MPE Program is to prepare pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows for a productive research career in epidemiology, with an emphasis on behavioral risk factors.

The EPRG also offers psychiatric diagnostic tools for use by researchers and clinicians. Please see posting under "Materials" link for more information.