Research field

Epidemiology

Tampere University

Arvo Ylpön katu 34, 33520 Tampere

Epidemiology is a scientific discipline that examines the occurrence of diseases within populations. It employs a stochastic perspective, operating on the premise that large data sets are ideal for uncovering subtle patterns. Epidemiology has traditionally been primarily concerned with identifying the distribution and causes of diseases.

The field was originally focused exclusively on communicable diseases but has since expanded to also examine non-communicable diseases, the functionality of healthcare systems, the impact of healthcare interventions, and the prevention and screening of diseases. As a population science, epidemiology covers both descriptive and analytic approaches, including experimental intervention studies such as randomised trials.

Epidemiology places a strong emphasis on methodological questions, such as study design and the measurement of health and illness and their determinants. The classical challenge in the field is distinguishing genuine causal effects from artefactual correlations. The epidemiological concept of causality is based on a probabilistic view: a specific risk factor influences the prevalence of a particular health outcome or disease within a population.

Epidemiological research spans a broad spectrum of topics from clinical medicine to public health. It can be divided into subfields based on specific diseases and risk factors, such as infectious disease epidemiology, cancer epidemiology or nutritional epidemiology. It also includes clinical decision-making, addressing research questions ranging from the evaluation of diagnostic tests and disease prognosis to the effectiveness of healthcare services.

At Tampere University, epidemiological research encompasses a variety of areas, including the incidence, aetiology and screening of cancer, infectious diseases and vaccinations, the links between early nutrition and type 1 diabetes and other diseases, maternal health and lifestyle, urological disorders, and the health effects of radiation.

The teaching staff within the Epidemiology group currently includes Professors Anssi Auvinen and Pekka Nuorti, Associate Professor (tenure track) Miia Artama and University Lecturers Tarja Kinnunen and Jarno Rutanen. Professor Anssi Auvinen serves as the Director of the Prostate Cancer Research, while Professor Pekka Nuorti is the Head of the Doctoral Programme in Epidemiology and Public Health (IPPE). In addition, the group includes two part-time Professors, Suvi Virtanen and Janne Pitkäniemi, along with paid doctoral researchers and project researchers.

Contact information

Anssi Auvinen

Professor, epidemiologia

Faculty of Social Sciences

Tampere University

anssi.auvinen [at] tuni.fi (anssi[dot]auvinen[at]tuni[dot]fi)

+358401901640

Kauppi Campus

https://orcid.org/000-0003-1125-4818

Research projects in epidemiology

The Epidemiology group conducts research on the incidence, prognosis and screening of cancer (Auvinen and Pitkäniemi), the impact and risks associated with vaccinations (Nuorti and Artama), obesity, nutrition and exercise particularly during pregnancy (Kinnunen), pharmaceutical policy (Rutanen), the risk factors and prevention of type 1 diabetes and allergic diseases (Virtanen), and the health effects of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation (Auvinen).

Our current large-scale research projects include ProScreen, a randomised trial on clinically significant prostate cancer screening, and COSMOS, a follow-up study investigating the long-term health of mobile phone users.

Teaching in Epidemiology

Epidemiology courses are included in several degree programmes at Tampere University. Students specialising in public health take the course Introduction to Epidemiology in Finnish at the BSc stage and the advanced course Epidemiologic Research Methods in English at the MSc stage. Our teaching staff in epidemiology participate in delivering the Finnish-language courses Population Health, Research Approaches in Public Health, and Concepts of Mental Health. They oversee the English-language courses Basic Epidemiology and Epidemiologic Research Methods as well as the course Sustainable Food Systems and Food in Societies and Policies and the Master’s Thesis Seminar, all of which are included in the international Master’s Programme in Public and Global Health. Epidemiology staff also contribute to the English-language courses Key Concepts and Competencies in Public Health, Health Policy, and Health and Environment.

In the Licentiate Programme in Medicine, epidemiology is covered during the Finnish-language courses Medical Knowledge and Research, Diagnostics and Therapy, Attack and Defence, Prevention, and Chest Pain and Shortness of Breath.

At the doctoral level, epidemiology is taught in the following English-language courses: Epidemiologic Methods, Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Cancer Epidemiology, Vaccine-preventable Diseases, Systematic Reviews, Chronic Disease and Nutritional Epidemiology, Reproductive Epidemiology, and Analysis, Validity and Inference.