Keynotes

On Advisory Groups
Sometimes it seems like advisory groups are everywhere and all around us, advising on a wide variety of issues on an equally wide variety of topics. But how many of these are actually focused on epidemiology or oriented towards epidemiological problems? That's the question we asked ourselves as we set about trying to identify "epidemiology advisory groups."

We managed to find seven such groups which are standing committees dedicated to epidemiology-related issues. Our listings here describe the purpose of each group, the sponsor, the chairman of the committee, and other miscellaneous information such as the size of the group and when it was created. The oldest by far is the U. S. Armed Forces Epidemiology Board (AFEB) which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. For readers who may be interested in serving on one of these groups, we provide information on what it takes to get nominated or appointed. Also, a list of members is provided for two of the larger communities in the U.S. And Europe which review epidemiology research grant applications.

Finally, our sleuthing uncovered an additional three advisory groups in Cameroon, Mexico, and Thailand which are unique as far as we know in being established specifically to bring more epidemiological expertise to bear on decisions at the Ministry of Health at the national level. These latter three groups conduct their business in a national language other than English, so they do not meet our criteria for separate listing in the advisory group category. However, they are mentioned under their country name in the country listings chapter. Also, we reprint here a condensed version of a 1990 EpiMonitor article describing the formation and purpose of the groups for readers interested in more details.

If we have missed any epidemiology-related advisory committees which you are aware of, please let us know and we will include them in our next edition.
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On Agencies
This chapter provides capsule descriptions of over 50 U.S. government and international agencies or units, including the names of the parent units, a description of the missions of the units, the total number of employees and the number of epidemiologists, the epidemiology subject areas of interest to the units, the names and responsible heads of the principal sub-units which employ epidemiologists, and the name of an epidemiology contact person for each sub-unit.

We did not list individually those organizational units which are too large or too small. We usually selected as the organizational unit of interest the next lower level unit within a large organization whose name was likely to be familiar to our readers (e.g. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute was selected as one of the organizational units of interest within the larger well-known National Institutes of Health).

The picture which emerges from this inventory is that epidemiologists can be found in a wide variety of governmental units. Armed with this new knowledge of their whereabouts, epidemiologists can make more frequent contact with one another and share information and resources more easily.
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On Awards
In this chapter we undertook what we thought would be a relatively easy assignment - to identify all of the major awards that can be earned by epidemiologists. Since the number of such awards was smaller than we expected, the task was easier in some ways than we predicted. However, we also want to tell our readers about what the award actually consists of, what you have to do to earn one, and who else has received the award in the past. This latter piece of information turned out to be more difficult to obtain than we expected and we only succeeded in providing the names of past recipients for a couple of the awards. Maybe some of our readers can fill in the blanks for our next edition.

Interesting features in this chapter are the short biographical sketches on the persons in whose honor the awards are being given. We have written these for this chapter and for the chapter describing the honorary lectures in epidemiology as well. Look for the lengthier description of John Snow which seems to give a "feeling for the person."

Although the number of awards detected by our investigation was limited, perhaps our search was not complete enough, particularly in countries outside the United States. If we have failed to identify any awards which would be of some general interest groups in the epidemiology community, please let us know for the next edition.
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On Books
This chapter is made up of three parts.

First, it presents "Epi Bookshelf," a list of novels and nonfiction titles suggested by Epidemiology Monitor readers in a recent survey. The chapter includes comments made about the books when these were provided by the readers. Books were suggested because epidemiology is featured or otherwise has a prominent role in them.

Second, this chapter contains a list of nonfiction epidemiology books classified into textbooks, subject-specific books, and general interest books. The list should provide a convenient reference and includes the name of the publisher and price for readers who may wish to purchase one or more of the listed titles. We consulted the latest edition of Books in Print in preparing this list, however, if readers bring any omissions to our attention we will add them in our next edition.

Thirdly, the chapter contains "Epi Favorites" circa 1986," a reprint of an earlier Epidemiology Monitor survey in 1986 which asked readers to identify the 10 books most deserving to be on every epidemiologist' s bookshelf. We reprint the 10 largest vote-getters from that survey. Readers may wish to contrast this list with a list of the current top ten best-selling books in epidemiology. This latter list was obtained from distributors of medical books in the United States, and is taken directly from their sales figures over the last twenty-four months.
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On Bulletins
Communicable disease bulletins are one of the cornerstones of epidemiological surveillance activities. One of these, The CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), has the largest circulation of any weekly bulletin, and is recognized around the world and looked to for the latest information about fast breaking events in public health. However, almost all countries have their own disease bulletins, and while these are less well known than the MMWR, epidemiologists may find some of these of special interest. Subscriptions to these publications are very often free.

This chapter describes 12 bilingual or English-only bulletins from all corners of the globe, including the Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) published by the WHO. We also include two non-disease bulletins published in the U. S. on vital statistics and another by the Food and Drug Administration. Readers who may be interested in the bulletins of countries not listed here because of our English-language requirement may find the name and sponsor of these bulletins in our chapter on individual country listings.

For a behind-the-scenes-look into how the MMWR and the WER are published each week, be sure to read the two special articles in this chapter describing what goes into publishing these weeklies.
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On Catalogs
This chapter represents some 17 different catalogues describing a variety of resources, most of which are either books or data files/databases. The distinction we tried to keep in mind in differentiating between catalogs in this chapter and directories in a subsequent chapter is that the catalogs listed here usually do not seek to provide information about all the members of a particular universe of interest. Rather, they provide detailed information about the products or services of particular publisher or organization.

The prototype listings for this chapter are the publications catalogs of different organizations such as the WHO. Also, several listings come from the catalogs of data files available from the National Technical Information Service for several of the U.S. federal agencies. While most of the listings are not targeted exclusively to epidemiologists, all of the catalogs contain items that will be of interest to epidemiologists. One catalog in particular is exclusively devoted to WHO publications in epidemiology. It is a convenient and useful compilation.

We welcome any reader suggestions for additional catalogs or for any clearer classification schemes that can accommodate a wide variety of publications that resemble catalogs.
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On Companies
The decision to include companies as a separate category was based on a hunch that enough epidemiologists were employed in the sector to make such a category of interest to our readers. To help reconnoiter the industrial territory, we had the assistance of the Industrial Epidemiology Forum, a special-interest group of epidemiologists who work in the industry. The IEF provided an international list of members and we were able to enumerate the names of the different companies which employ epidemiologists. In addition, we sent questionnaires to members of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association to obtain the companies in that group which employ epidemiologists.

Overall, we received replies from 38 different companies which employ one or more epidemiologists. Our sense is that the number of qualifying companies is larger, but some companies were reluctant to cooperate. Perhaps they will change their minds in time for the second edition.

For companies which did reply, we collected information on the subject areas of interest within the company, on the types of activities most frequently engaged in, on the percentage of the total epidemiology work supported by the company which is actually carried out intramurally, and on the size, training background, and current professional affiliations of the key staff. Furthermore, we list the name of the epidemiology unit head within the company, which higher division here she reports to the company, and the year in which the unit was created. In asking these questions, we had the guidance of industrial epidemiologists from the IEF who advised us about the most interesting and relevant information to collect.

To provide a break from the continuous series of listings, this chapter includes two accounts of what it's like to work as an epidemiologist in the industry today. Ralph Cook from Dow Chemical, the head of one of the largest epidemiology units in industry, gives us a description of his company's activities. On a more personal note, we reprint a recent interview with Gary Spivey from Unocal which was published in the Epidemiology Monitor. Gary previously worked at UCLA and he shares insights on both academia and industry.
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On Consultants
One of our colleagues who was among the first to work full-time as a consultant epidemiologist was asked how many consulting firms there were in epidemiology. His educated guess equalled only one-half the number of firms we were able to collect. That's when we knew for sure we've done a good job of identifying consulting firms in epidemiology, even though we had no master list to start from. We earned our stripes for shoe-leather work in this chapter!

We identified almost 70 firms which provide epidemiology services. These range from firms which specialize in epidemiology to others where epidemiologic studies are only a small part of the total business. Furthermore, the firms listed vary greatly in size from one person sole proprietorships to large companies with hundreds of employees and multiple branch locations. In our next edition, we may find it desirable to sub-classify these firms to make it easier for our readers to negotiate through the maze of possibilities. Anyway, for now there's fun to be had in getting acquainted with all the numerous services which these firms offer.

Not only are the firms variable in size and degree of specialization in epidemiology, but they also range from single service to full-service firms and can offer a wide range of services spanning the entire research enterprise from study design to publication of the results, and everything in between. Some of the firms included in this category are not so much epidemiology consulting firms as they are research support firms usually providing one or more services related to data collection or processing. For example, Tracers Company of America Inc. is one such firm - "finding the 'missing' since 1924". One firm will even help doctoral students!

Among the items of information that we report for each firm are the principal epidemiology-related services provided, the typical client, the size of the epidemiology unit and the background and affiliations of the key staff. These latter points are to help readers assess the qualifications and experience of the firms. We also asked for the year started and the name of the head of the unit which provides epidemiology services and any branch offices.

Special features to look for in this chapter include an article by Steve Lamm on the "Art of Consulting As an Epidemiologist". Look for this article and find out what he means when he says that "Doing the job is often the least of the work." Also included is a reprint of an Epidemiology Monitor article on "The Private Practice of Epidemiology."
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On Countries
As mentioned in the introduction, we have sought to make Episource an international directory by listing all products and services that are available in English regardless of country of origin. This language requirement excluded many items and activities in non-English speaking countries that are useful for epidemiologists to know about. Hence, we created this chapter of individual country listings to include information about epidemiology in different countries regardless of the language used.

In the time allotted for the preparation of this book, we were able to include information from over 40 countries from all parts of the world. Ten or more members belonging to the International Epidemiological Association was used as the main selection criterion since we thought such countries might be more likely than others to have ongoing epidemiology activities of interest to epidemiologists in other parts of the world.

For each country, we present the name and contact person for the professional association of epidemiologists or for the professional association that most epidemiologists in the country belong to. Likewise, we provide the name of an epidemiology unit and a contact person in the Ministry of Health at the national level.

In thinking about what features of the epidemiology landscape in each country that would be of greatest interest to colleagues outside the country, we focused our attention on epidemiology bulletins, on short epidemiology courses being offered, on degree programs where a Masters or doctoral degree in epidemiology can be earned, and on any  textbooks that are published in the country. Thus, this chapter will make you aware of such diverse items as textbooks on epidemiology in Ethiopia and China, epidemiology journals in Korea and Japan, and epidemiology association bulletins in Portugal and the Netherlands. Finally, each country listing ends with a brief description of special features of epidemiology that were mentioned by our correspondents.

We recognize that the information provided is unlikely to paint an adequate description of the epidemiology activities in each country listed. However, we hope that this first edition kindles further support for an international resource directory and represents a credible start in making the idea a reality. We count on our readers and colleagues to take up the slack and help us to fill in the missing information for our second edition.
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On Databases
This is a short chapter which contains only seven listings, however, each of these databases is of general interest to the epidemiology community.

The primary reason for being so selective is that almost any set of information ranging from someone's address file through the voluminous files of the National Library of Medicine can be considered a "database". In short, we had a "case definition" problem and would not have easily been able to decide what to include and exclude.

Also, the sheer number of databases discourages any attempt to compile a comprehensive list. For example, a recent inventory of databases for only the pharmacoepidemiology components of the larger epidemiology community resulted in the publication of four separate volumes costing $1000!

Our solution to this problem was simple. We did not attempt to identify all the databases of potential interest to epidemiologists, but rather we focused on those of broad interest to epidemiologists across all or at least many subspecialties. We identified only a few of these, however, we welcome any reader additions for the next edition. Our main criterion is simply that the database should be of general interest.

Additional information about databases and how to access them may be obtained from our chapter on Directories.
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On Degree Programs
DEDICATED TO DR. ABRAHAM LILIENFELD
What will you find in this chapter? First of all, we sought to compile a comprehensive listing of graduate degree programs where one can earn a degree with a major or concentration in epidemiology, regardless of School or Institution. It did not suffice to offer courses in epidemiology without offering a major where student could actually concentrate in that discipline and earn "an epidemiology degree."

We did not restrict our attention to Schools of Public Health, which are the first institutions to come to mind, but surveyed Schools of Medicine, Schools of Veterinary Medicine, and even Schools of Pharmacy and Nursing. Overall, we identified over 80 different epidemiology degree programs offered in English in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, a significant increase over the approximately 25 programs offered in the U.S. and Canadian Schools of Public Health.

The key information we sought was on the names of the degree offered, and the subspecialty areas of study in epidemiology that the program focused on. Each program is given the opportunity to identify special features which make it stand out from the others.

To get some idea of the size of the program, we obtained the number of full-time students and faculty. To obtain some idea of the popularity and selectivity of each program, we obtained the number of applicants, the number admitted, and the actual number enrolled for 1990-91. Thus, comparison of the programs on different items of interest is possible from the data we collected.

This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Abraham Lilienfeld. With the interests of students always on his mind, he recognized the need for a directory of training opportunities in epidemiology and encouraged us many years ago to undertake this work. We trust that he would have been pleased by this first effort, and hope that readers will contribute their ideas and suggestions to making further improvements in subsequent editions.
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On Directories
Although the distinction between a directory in the catalog is not always easy to make, it helps when the word "directory" appears in the title of the book! Otherwise, it is not always clear how to classify inventories, reference guides, handbooks, etc. We have identified 12 publications which we classify as directories for purposes of Episource. For the most part, these publications provide information according to a fixed set of variables for some universe of interest. At least half of the directories provide information about databases that are available for certain subject areas. The rest of the listings include directories covering a variety of topics such as software, courses, ongoing research projects, and other topics.
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On Fellowships
The original goal for this chapter was to identify and describe all of the post-doctoral training opportunities for epidemiologists. In the process, we stumbled onto a wide variety of training opportunities for professionals at all stages of their careers, but we were not able to investigate all these fully. In the end, we felt compelled to include information on some of these other opportunities as well, even though we could not compile a comprehensive list. Thus, the chapter contains information about a few pre-doctoral opportunities as well as some associateship programs which are for established investigators. Also, the chapter contains information on fellowships for persons with non-epidemiology doctoral degrees who wish to obtain pre-doctoral training in epidemiology.

Because of the variety and large number of training grants of all kinds, we recognize that this chapter may only reflect the tip of the iceberg. Nevertheless, we trust it will be useful as a first compilation, and we invite comments on the chapter in anticipation of the second edition should be revised to better meet the needs of our readers.
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On Funding Sources
When colleagues suggested categories for Episource, a frequent suggestion was to include leads to funding sources. Since the governmental funding sources for research are usually well-known, our challenge was to identify non-governmental sources which have an interest in funding epidemiology-related projects.

Since no list of such sources was available to us, we had to track down as many of these foundations and other sources as possible. We use some of the bulletins described later in this chapter to help us and followed up other leads that developed in the course of preparing this book.

We do not have a clear sense of how complete our list is. It is possible that readers will know of many other sources which are not listed here. If true, readers may notify us about the existence of these other sources and we will endeavor to include them in our second edition.

Our questionnaire specifically asked each potential source of funds whether or not they funded epidemiology projects, and if so, whether they were actively or only passively interested in receiving such applications. Only sources which answered that they do fund epidemiology projects are included in our listings, with an entry to indicate whether their interest is active or passive. Happy hunting!
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On Guidelines
The original idea for this chapter was to reprint all of the key sets of guidelines and policies emanating from various authorities and advisory bodies so that epidemiologists could have one convenient reference source for this information. This seemed particularly urgent of late because of the proliferation of guidelines in the last few years. Because the number of guidelines turned out to be even larger than we expected, and because of their length and the space limitations in Episource, we opted not to reprint the guidelines but to inventory and describe them so that interested readers can easily call, fax, or write to obtain their own copies. We do reprint the brief "Declaration of Helsinki" because it is such a seminal document that we wanted readers to have easy access to it.

The chapter contains a fascinating array of guidelines and useful information, ranging all the way from a helpful citizen's guide on the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts to a set of recommendations about appropriate behavior in the conduct of international collaborative research. Since talk about ethical guidelines is everywhere in the air these days, we include a special article by Ralph Cook on conflict of interest, and we even include a lead on how to obtain WHO guidelines which are not expected to be published until 1992. Several of the professional associations such as SER and IEA are also developing ethical guidelines, and information on how to obtain a copy of the IEA draft guidelines which are furthest along is included.

Several other topics can be found in this chapter including policy statements regarding protection of personally identifiable research information and information collection from the public as well as SER recommendations on granting access to data.

We are particularly indebted to Dr. Joan Porter at NIH for many helpful suggestions about what material to include in this chapter, and we welcome suggestions from our readers for additional guidelines that should be included in a future edition.
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On Health Departments
Do you know who's who in epidemiology at your local health department? This chapter provides names, titles, and locating information for epidemiologists in all of the 50 U.S. state health departments and in some of the largest U.S. cities. Since health departments now employ epidemiologists not only for the traditional communicable disease control roles, but also for many non-communicable disease functions, this chapter identifies these "chronic disease" epidemiologists as well.

A highlight of this chapter is the description provided for each of the epidemiology bulletins or newsletters published by almost all health departments. We provide the name of the publication, its frequency of appearance, a brief description of the contents, and finally who to contact to subscribe. These publications are always provided free of charge to our knowledge and provide an easy means to stay in touch with developments in epidemiology in a state or local area.

Our questionnaire to each health Department asked for the number of epidemiologists employed so that readers could get some idea of the size of each program. We purposefully left the term epidemiologist undefined so that each could count as epidemiologists whoever was considered to be functioning in this capacity. Some respondents noted that this was problematical, so we asked each area to count as epidemiologists only those persons with graduate training in the field or M.D.s with training/experience in the field. We are sure that this definition lowered the count in many but not in all areas. Thus, the information provided for the number of epidemiologists is not strictly comparable between areas. Whenever the number exceeds two or three except in the largest states or cities, we suspect that the definition adhered to was "anyone working in that capacity" rather than one which required "an M.D. plus training/experience or graduate training only."
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On Journals
Episource seeks to expand greater awareness about the breadth and scope of epidemiology, and to make it easy and convenient to access the resources in the field, to provide new information not easily obtained elsewhere, and to interest and entertain readers with special features. While they've sought to meet all of these objectives throughout the book, this chapter on journals, in our opinion, meets these objectives particularly well.

For example, although many readers may consider themselves familiar with the journals available in epidemiology, it would be surprising to us if epidemiologists did not discover several new titles in our listing. Also, there are many journals covering subspecialty areas of epidemiology which readers may not be aware of but which may be of interest to them. This chapter illustrates how Episource can provide a fuller appreciation of a familiar landscape.

Secondly, this chapter makes easily accessible in one location information necessary to subscribe, submit a manuscript, run an ad, rent a mailing list, call an editor, or obtain a sample copy. Surely this will encourage greater use of the resources which the journals represent, another goal of Episource .

Thirdly, this chapter gives information about the average time it takes to get an article accepted and published in each journal, the average acceptance rate for all manuscripts submitted, and the number of subscribers for each publication. This is interesting and useful information not easily obtainable from any other source.

By way of special feature, the early pages of the chapter include information from the Science Citation Index which allows readers to obtain some idea about the relative impact of the different journals in epidemiology and public health. Some notion of this influence is often of interest to epidemiologists in selecting a journal in which to publish.

The journals selected for inclusion in Episource are epidemiology journals ("epidemiology" is in the name"), frequently contain epidemiology-related articles, or are on broad general topics of interest epidemiologists (e.g. public health). Thus, readers will find the American Journal of Epidemiology along with the American Journal of Public Health as well as the New England Journal of Medicine and the many others in this chapter.
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On Lectures
Inviting epidemiologists to give lectures is a principal means of honoring accomplishments - both of the person in whose name the lectures given as well as those of the person being invited to give the lecture. We identified six honorary lectures in epidemiology named after persons who worked in widely different subject areas.

This chapter describes the purpose of the lectures, how speakers are selected, and provides short biographical notes on the persons being honored. In addition, two longer length biographical sketches are provided for Wade Hampton Frost and Robert Cruickshank, who have lectures given in their name. There may be other honorary lectures given every year and, if so, we would be delighted to get more details about them from our readers.

We were able to obtain names of the speakers and the titles of their lectures for at least one series of honorary lectures (Langmuir), and we would like to obtain more if any of our readers have easy access to this information.
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The On Legal Cases introduction has already been dictated and sent to Michele.
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On Networks
As we understand epidemiology networks, they are organizations of people with a common interest or purpose which are linked formally in some way to help further their common cause. Very often this common interest is furthered by the exchange of information or experiences. In this way, networks are similar to professional organizations, except that networks seem to have a greater commitment to staying in touch and sharing information.

"Special Interest Groups" is another label which we considered but then rejected for the listings in this chapter. In contrast to the networks we selected, the special interest groups that came to our attention were more focused on a specific disease or condition and not specifically concerned with epidemiological issues.

Readers will find very different networks on these pages ranging from very small ones of fewer than 10 members to very large ones with over 1,000 participants. Also, the range of interests is very diverse, all the way from the health of aboriginal populations in the circumpolar regions of the globe to the broader topics of drug safety and research itself. Perhaps somewhere in all these listings you will find a network you want to plug into!

Last but not least, this chapter houses one of our favorite quotes by Bertrand Russell from the many contributed by James Marks - something to do with chickens... and probability. Read on!
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On Newsletters
This chapter is a good example of the consciousness-raising potential of Episource. We hope you will agree!

 If asked, many epidemiologists might respond that The Epidemiology Monitor is the only newsletter in the field and that Episource  need not devote an entire chapter to this one publication. After 10 years of being on the lookout and squirreling away what we find, we can describe no less than 24 current newsletters that we believe epidemiologists will find worth knowing about and relevant to their work and professional interests

Admittedly, we cheated a little and our inclusion criteria may not have been as strict as in some of our other chapters. Not all of these entries are newsletters in the usual sense of that term. For example, we list the APHA newspaper "The Nation's Health" in this chapter. Also, not all of the newsletters address broad epidemiological topics that will be of interest to all epidemiologists. For example, we list newsletters on such subspecialty topics as toxic substances and statistics.

However, in our defense, we list several newsletters with broad topics that will be of interest to a large number of our colleagues. For example, this chapter tells about several chronic disease newsletters and those of professional organizations with an interest in  epidemiology. And in all cases, whether interested personally or not, all of our epidemiology readers will be able to grasp the connection between epidemiology and the titles we described.

Readers interested in newsletters should not fail to review our chapter on Health Departments. In that section we provide information on the epidemiology bulletins and newsletters published by each large state and city health department. Many of these are available free of charge.

By failing to be epidemiologically "pure" in selecting items for this chapter, we may have opened the door to many other newsletters that our readers will want to list and that we know nothing about. If that is the case, please send us samples of the newsletters you think qualify for inclusion in a future edition. We do not promise to remain so open-minded about what to include in this chapter, but then again, it's always nice to have at least one place where we can let our hair down. Why not relax in the area we know best?!
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On Preventive Medicine Residency Programs
The idea for including preventive medicine residency programs did not occur to us until a colleague at Johns Hopkins pointed out that some of these programs specialize in providing epidemiology training. They are listed in the  Directory of Preventive Medicine Residency Programs published by the American College of Preventive Medicine. In that directory, the "Areas of Emphasis" for each program are included and epidemiology is frequently mentioned.

Overall, we identified 46 programs with an area of emphasis in epidemiology from a total of more than 75 residency programs listed in the ACPM directory. We have also included Canadian programs.

In order to collect information about epidemiology training within each program, we asked about opportunities in the clinical, academic, and practicum phases of the residency. The information provided is what each respondent gave us. To help readers assess the kind and quality of training, we asked each program to describe the kind of work its graduates would be capable of performing or qualified to carry out. Readers may read these replies along with a description of the special features of each program.
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On Recruiting Firms
This chapter provides descriptions of 5 firms which recruit epidemiologists, primarily for jobs in industry. We first learned about the existence of such firms over a decade ago. We are as surprised now as we were back then to learn that the market for epidemiologists is sufficiently large to attract these firms. Since epidemiologists in government and academia are likely to be unfamiliar with the terms under which these companies operate, this chapter will serve to make readers aware of the firms and provide an introduction to their key features.
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On Research Centers
A guiding idea in the preparation of Episource was to include listings regarding the different kinds of work environments in which epidemiologists are employed. Thus, Episource contains listings from academic departments, government agencies, private companies, and even from self-employed private consultants. Another place of employment is the research center (also often called institution or foundation) which functions as a private/public nonprofit organization. We identified 21 of these centers which are usually but not exclusively organized around a particular disease or research topic. By far the largest number of centers is focused on cancer research, but other topics such as alcohol, electricity, fitness, drugs, radiation, highway deaths, and indoor air are also being addressed.

To get a picture of these centers, we asked each one to describe its principal activities, research topics, and annual epidemiology research budget. Almost all centers complied with this latter request. The listings also include the number of epidemiologists employed at each site, which is usually less than 5 in the ones we identified, but reached as high as 20 at the American Health Foundation.

We tried to restrict this chapter to those centers which are truly independent, free-standing organizations, which employ their own research staff and are not merely components of academic departments funded by a single grant for a limited time period. If we have missed any of these centers/institutes, please send us the particulars and we will include them in our next edition.
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On Short Courses
Along with degree programs and journals, short courses in epidemiology were foremost on our minds when we thought about publishing Episource. This is because they are frequently advertised in The Epidemiology Monitor, there is considerable interest in them, and until now there has been no comprehensive listing epidemiologists can consult to find out what is being offered where and when.

We accepted for listing here only those courses which take place according to some regular schedule. One-time only courses by definition are not repeated and are not of interest for this book since they might have come and gone by the time our readers learned about them, or they may not even be scheduled or planned yet by the time Episource goes to press. The courses we list are given regularly so these problems of past and future times are obviated.

The courses offered in several of the summer programs qualify as short courses given on a regular basis, but these are offered as part of a cluster of courses and students may take several at once as part of a "program" of instruction. The courses described here are not given as part of any program as far as we know, are taken one at a time, and are available at various times throughout the year, not just in the summer. The short courses and summer programs are listed in a separate chapter.

Altogether we identified 25 short courses representative of the many different topics one might find in an epidemiology degree program. Thus, there are several introductory and advanced epidemiology courses covering general principles and methods, as well as several subject matter oriented courses covering a wide variety of topics.

The information provided describes the course sponsor, location, content, target audience, length in days or weeks, costs, the usual number of students and other useful information. The courses vary in size from as small as 20 to as large as 150 students on average. Among the unusual on this list which readers may have not heard about is a home study course in epidemiology offered by the CDC, and a course on tropical epidemiology given in Europe. The most popular topic for short courses these days by our count seems to be clinical epidemiology.

Because of the anticipated, widespread interest in this list, we would appreciate learning about any listings which have been omitted. These could be included in a future edition.
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On Software
"... a vast array of software, both commercial and public domain, has been developed for facilitating the conduct of epidemiologic research. The availability of microcomputer software specific to epidemiology has evolved from the shareware version of Epistat in the early 1980s to increasingly sophisticated commercial systems such as Egret, Statxact, and True Epistat. The microcomputer has become the preeminent tool of epidemiology..."

These are some of the words used by David Foster and Kevin Sullivan to describe the role of software in epidemiology and their article on "Epidemiologic Computing: Past, Present, and Future" included in this chapter. In fact, the chapter on software was one of the very first ideas we have for chapters in Episource. This is not surprising given the importance of software to epidemiologists and given the fact that we have been distributing free or inexpensive software for the last two or three years to epidemiologists around the world.

In contrast to the shareware we been distributing, we sought to identify for Episource all epidemiology-related software programs regardless of cost that might be interested to the geologist. Altogether, we identified over 75 programs from multiple sources. These are presently initially in a summary table over the next few pages and then individually throughout the chapter.

Welcome reader comments on usefulness of this listing and any suggestions for modifying it which might be taken into account for future edition.
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On Special Training Programs
Training programs and epidemiology are offered in both academic and non-academic settings and we have described the opportunities offered in academic settings in the chapter on degree programs. This chapter provides information about non-academic on-the-job training opportunities which we have labeled "special training programs."

Perhaps the best-known of these special training programs is the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS); however, we have identified a handful of others, including two which are oriented towards treating persons from developing countries. Because the number of special training programs is small and each is unique, we opted not to use a common set of variables for describing each one. Instead, each program is described according to the features relevant for that program. In addition, th International Clinical Epidemiology Network (IMCLEN) which has multiple trading sites is described separately for each site.

A special feature in this chapter is a condensed reprint of an article on the EIS training program which appeared in recent issue of Public Health Reports. It traces the evolution of the program from its creation to the present day.

If you know of other special training programs and epidemiology which we have missed, send us a note identifying these programs enable follow-up for possible inclusion in the second edition.
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On Summer Programs
Summer Programs of instruction in epidemiology mushroomed during the 1980s. The oldest such program started in Minnesota over twenty years ago and the new ones appear to be successful in attracting their own crop of students every summer. Whether or not all the new programs will survive or whether the 1990's will continue to see growth in this area is uncertain. Some of the more recent additions have been in Europe and further growth may be more likely outside of North America where the opportunities for graduate-level training in epidemiology are more limited.

There are currently 8 summer programs (in English) devoted to teaching epidemiology in 5 countries according to our count. There are other programs which are conducted in different languages (e.g. French) or conducted less frequently than on an annual basis (e.g. Israel). These are noted in the individual country listings but not presented here.
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On Teaching Materials
Perhaps a more appropriate title for this chapter would have been "Learning Materials", and then again perhaps "Miscellaneous Resources." This is because the leads described in this short chapter include such diverse items as a list of computer assisted instruction programs in epidemiology and biostatistics, and descriptions of manuals for carrying out investigations or for organizing occupational epidemiology programs in private companies, as well as teaching materials.

We have a hunch that the epidemiology community is in possession of a great deal more teaching and learning resource materials than is described in this chapter. There was no list of people to call to obtain information about such materials, and we believe that a lot of what exists is known to only a few people who use the materials or have been exposed to them. Consequently, this chapter should be viewed only as a beginning. It introduces the idea of sharing information about teaching materials through the pages of Episource. If readers find this list and the materials useful, we trust we will receive many other examples of items that can be shared with colleagues. Any such materials we received will be evaluated for inclusion in a second edition.