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Applied Epidemiology: A new course taught by Danstan Bagenda, PhD

Danstan Bagenda, PhD

Danstan Bagenda, PhD

Education Highlight –Danstan Bagenda, PhD joined the UNMC Department of Epidemiology as a faculty member in 2015. Dr. Bagenda is a Uganda native with a PhD in Global Disease Epidemiology and Control from Johns Hopkins University, and a Master of Science in Biostatistics from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He has been teaching medical students since 1989, using research methodologies to help improve the quality of patient care. Dr. Bagenda has also taught MPH classes in Public Health Nutrition, and Health Services, and Environmental Health Science courses to undergraduate students at Makerere University in Uganda. He has taught and mentored students in fellowship programs including the Uganda CDC program and doctoral and post-doctoral initiatives such as the Wellcome Trust. In collaboration with Cambridge University and LSTHM Dr. Bagenda trained health researchers in a number of programs including Training Health Research Vocational Excellence (THRiVE) program in Africa; the European Union supported Infectious Diseases Network for Treatment and Research in Africa (INTERACT) initiative; the NIH Supported NIH – Fogarty International Center programs; and the CDC/USAID/WHO supported African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) programs.

Dr. Bagenda is currently teaching the UNMC College of Public Health Course Applied Epidemiology EPI821/CPH621. This hands-on course provides students with the knowledge and skills to effectively conduct research and affect policy change. Dr. Bagenda’s goal is to help students use data to improve population health, advise policy, improve quality of services at health facilities, use statistical methods and select the best research tools to address common and unique health issues. He believes that learning about the core concepts and problems will allow students to adapt methodologies  to fit each new situation they encounter, such as when working in resource-limited regions. Dr. Bagenda aims to have students understand that interventions need to be customized for specific populations. For example, using land-based phones for research may not be feasible in regions with limited resources, yet locally available and sustainable mobile phone technologies may be able to be leveraged for research purposes.

Dr. Bagenda also lectures in a number of other UNMC CoPH courses, including a lecture on Global HIV and AIDS in Dr. Khan’s Emerging Infectious Disease Course and a lecture in Drs. Islam and Levine’s Cancer Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases Course.

 

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