4th International Course in Nutritional Epidemiology

Hold the dates! Provisional dates for the 4th International Course in Nutritional Epidemiology: 3-14 September 2012.

If you wish us to contact you as soon as more information becomes available, please join our mailing list.

About the course

 

This advanced and interactive course aims to give you a solid grounding in the knowledge and skills that are required to work as a nutritional epidemiologist. Participants are expected to have postgraduate level experience (MSc or PhD) in epidemiology.

The course will consist of lectures, computer tutorials, debates and discussions with experts and a small group assignment, with particular focus on current controversies in the field.

We will place strong emphasis on assessment of exposure (to include diet, body size, and physical activity), methodological considerations in study design, and pertinent statistical issues, including how best to address measurement error and adjust for total energy intake.  

You will learn to critically interpret results from nutritional epidemiological studies and evaluate the association between a given nutritional factor and disease. Current priorities in nutritional epidemiology, its future potential and challenges will be discussed. We will also address the translation of scientific findings into nutritional recommendations and policies.

For further information please visit the following sections:

• Course content
• Faculty
• The application process
• Testimonials
• Practical information

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Course content

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course you will:

• Be able to critique the dietary assessment, study design and data analysis of published nutritional epidemiological studies.
• Be able to evaluate, summarize, interpret and discuss new nutritional epidemiological research findings whilst considering its strengths and weaknesses as well as prior evidence.
• Be able to collaborate efficiently with epidemiologists, nutritionists and statisticians on planning, conducting and interpreting epidemiological research on a given diet-disease association in an existing epidemiological dataset. 
• Recognise the potential value of new technologies and describe how they could advance the field of nutritional epidemiology. 
• Be able to discuss how findings from nutritional epidemiology can be translated into recommendations for chronic disease prevention and be communicated to the public. 

Topics

Topics will include the following:

• The importance of nutrition in the prevention of morbidity and mortality from chronic disease.
• International trends and patterns in diet (including biomarkers of intake and status), body size (including the obesity epidemic), and physical activity.
• Assessment methods for diet (questionnaires, 24-hour recalls, food diaries; biomarkers; dietary patterns; food composition databases), anthropometry and physical activity (questionnaires, objective methods).
• Methodological considerations in study design in nutritional epidemiology.
• The problem of measurement error in nutrition-related exposures and approaches of how to deal with this (validity, reproducibility, de-attenuation, calibration).
• Statistical methods (adjustment for total energy, selection of confounders, effect modification and interaction, multivariable regression analyses, continuous versus categorical analyses, trend tests, data transformation).
• The role of meta-analysis in nutritional epidemiology.
• Interpretation of nutritional epidemiological findings.
• How to write a press release. 
• Modern tools in nutritional epidemiology (Mendelian randomization, gene-environment interactions, metabonomics, large epidemiological studies).
• Translation of nutritional epidemiology findings into dietary guidelines and health policies.

Teaching methods

The course will consist of a mixture of lectures, computer tutorials, discussion sessions with experts and small-group paper critique sessions. The practical sessions and computer tutorials will ensure that you will be equipped to apply the knowledge and skills taught in the course in practice. Active participation will be required; participants will work in small groups on a given diet-disease association (including data analysis), which they will present towards the end of the course. The final presentations will be used for review and integration. Teaching will start at 9.00 and finish at 17.30 with a one and a hour lunch break and refreshment breaks in between.

Assessment

There will be no formal assessment.

Accreditation

Participants who complete the course will receive a certificate of attendance. Last year's course was awarded 50 CPD credits by the Royal College of Physicians. The course was also endorsed by the British Dietetics Association (BDA). Accreditation and endorsement by these organisations will be sought for this year's course.

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Faculty

The course faculty comprises members of world-class reputation from Imperial College London and leading institutions worldwide. They have published many numerous articles on nutritional epidemiology in top journals, have been part of various international committees and panels, and have extensive teaching experience. There will be ample opportunity throughout the course to interact with the faculty. The faculty for 2012 are to be confirmed shortly. Last year's faculty were:

• Professor Elio Riboli (Course Director) - Imperial College London
• Dr Petra Wark (Course Organiser) - Imperial College London
• Professor Paul Elliott - Imperial College London
• Dr Kate Allen - WCRF International 
• Mr Richard Evans - WCRF International
• Professor Laurence Freedman - Gertner Institute for Epidemiology, Israel
• Professor Gary Frost - Imperial College London
• Professor Michael Leitzmann - University of Regensburg, Germany 
• Dr Ruth Loos - Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge, UK
• Dr Teresa Norat - Imperial College London
• Professor Matthias Schulze - German Institute of Human Nutrition, Germany
• Dr Amy Subar - National Cancer Institute, USA
• Dr Anne-Claire Vergnaud - Imperial College London
• Professor Martin Wiseman - WCRF International

Read more about the faculty's expertise.

The course faculty is joined in remembering the great scientific and personal contribution to the design and establishment of this course given by the late Dr Arthur Schatzkin. He will be greatly missed.

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The application process

Who should apply?

Participants are expected to have:

• experience in epidemiology at postgraduate level (MSc or PhD level)
• a working knowledge of statistics, in particular regression analysis
• a good command of English

Experience with statistical software or training in nutrition is not required, but is highly preferable.

Participants

We envision an audience from all over the world. A maximum number of 30 participants will be accepted. They will be selected by Imperial College based on to the extent to which they meet the entry criteria and their motivation.

Application deadlines

The deadline for applications will be confirmed shortly.

Course fees

The offer of a place on the course is subject to payment of the course fee of £1,950. The course fee covers: teaching, course materials, the welcome reception, two course dinners and refreshments.

The course fee does not cover: all other meals (including lunch and dinners), travel, accommodation, personal expenses, medical insurance and travel insurance. Participants are expected to cover all of these costs.

Cancellation

An administration fee of 20% will be charged for cancellations made up to four weeks prior to the start of the course. Cancellations after this date will be liable to the loss of the full fee. Notice of cancellation must be given in writing by letter or email and action will be taken to recover, from the participants or their employers, that proportion of the fee owing at the time of cancellation.

We reserve the right to cancel an advertised course at short notice. We will endeavour to provide participants with as much notice as possible, but will not accept liability for costs incurred by participants or their organisations for the cancellation of travel arrangements and/or accommodation reservations as a result of the course being cancelled or postponed. If a course is cancelled, fees will be refunded in full. We also reserve the right to postpone or make such alterations to the content of a course as may be necessary.

Apply here

• Application Form Word - available shortly
• Application Form PDF - available shortly

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Testimonials

Quotes from last year's participants

• “Fantastic course, great opportunity to get to know international researchers, both speakers and participants!”
• “This is one of the best courses I have attended so far. Good job! I will recommend my colleagues to attend it if there will be one for next year.”
• “Excellent access to amazing people and information.”
• “Thank you so much for your wonderful organisation and thought put into making the lectures so relevant and interesting and our stay so comfortable. It has been fantastic to learn from the experts and to make connections from fellow colleagues.”
• “The course was very well organised! Also the lecturers were very good.”
• “Highly appreciated that there was enough time for discussions.”
• “Thanks a lot; it was a pleasure and an honour to attend this course.”

Read about our 2009 course particpants.

Find out about 2009 course participant Roselle Lee from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

To watch video interviews of our 2010 course participants visit the WCRF International website.

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Practical information

Passports and Visa

Depending on your nationality, a visa may be required for entry into the UK. If a visa is required, participants are responsible for obtaining the required valid travel documents. Please allow sufficient time for the process to be completed.

We advise all participants to contact their local British Embassy for up to date information on passport and visa requirements. We are happy to issue an invitation letter on request after receiving full payment.

Medical and Travel Insurance

The course fee does not include insurance. We therefore recommend participants take out insurance to cover medical and travel expenses.

Location

The course will be taught at the South Kensington campus of Imperial College London. This campus is located in central London, near the museums, Hyde Park and the Royal Albert Hall. It is also well connected to all other destinations within central London.

Accommodation

The course fee does not include accommodation. We recommend that participants arrange accommodation after they have been accepted on the course. We reserve single en-suite rooms with the Imperial College accommodation service who provide great value bed and breakfast accommodation in student Halls of Residence and can also provide hotel suggestions. A code is given to participants once payment has been received.

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More Information

For general or administrative queries, please contact: Nikki Whitelock, +44 (0)20 7594 2116, nutrition-epi-course@imperial.ac.uk

For queries on the course content, please contact: Dr Petra Wark, + 44 (0)20 7594 8477, nutrition-epi-course@imperial.ac.uk

If you wish to be informed of future editions of the course, please join our mailing list.

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