Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
The PhD prepares students to become independent investigators in academic and non-academic research institutions, and emphasizes contributions to theory and basic science.
Students interested in a doctoral research degree must apply to one of the Department's four concentrations.
Program Concentrations
Program Director: Andrea Ruff, MD
Program Coordinator: Melissa Marx, PhD
Applicants to the program must have a degree in medicine, veterinary medicine, or dentistry; or a master's level degree or equivalent graduate training in epidemiology, statistics, international health, tropical medicine, microbiology, parasitology, immunology, or virology. Prior work experience is preferable.
Overall Program Goal
This program provides training for public health researchers who will use epidemiologic, immunologic and/or laboratory and statistical methods to design, implement, and/or evaluate disease control interventions for diseases of public health importance to under-served populations. Graduates will have a fundamental understanding of the pathogenesis, epidemiology, and control measures applicable to diseases of public health importance in disadvantaged populations throughout the world. Interventions to be studied will be primarily biomedical (e.g. therapeutic or prophylactic drugs, vaccines or environmental modifications), although there may be a behavioral component to effective implementation of such interventions.
Special strengths of the program are infectious disease epidemiology and vaccinology. Students can acquire a broad understanding of the methods needed to design studies and gain hands-on experience in the design, conduct and analysis of community and clinical trials and/or laboratory based investigations, including the immunologic and biologic basis of responses to immunizations and other prophylactic or therapeutic interventions.
General Knowledge
Learning Objectives
- Describe the evolution of key approaches that have been applied in an attempt to address the major public health problems of underserved populations and to place these approaches in the context of general development, culture and health policies.
- Define the most important indicators of health status of underserved populations, identify databases and other sources of information for these indicators, and describe how changes in these indicators reflect changes in the health status of populations.
- Describe the epidemiology, biology, pathophysiology, modes of transmission, and strategies for prevention and control of the major infectious diseases of public health importance to resource-poor environments. Be able to argue for the appropriateness of specific strategies for prevention and control in selected circumstances.
Research Skills
Learning Objectives
- Review and critique the relevant literature on a topic of interest.
- Place a research question in the context of current knowledge.
- Frame a research question in terms of study goals and specific aims.
- Design a research study to address specific aims. Be able to differentiate between study designs and to argue in favor of using a specified design as most appropriate to address that research question
- Develop and write a research proposal
- Develop and justify a budget for a research proposal.
- Discuss the ethical issues involved in research in resource poor environments and argue for a particular approach to addressing these ethical issues.
- Prepare an application to an IRB for ethical approval.
- Implement and manage a research study, monitor the progress of the study and the quality of data collected.
- Produce an appropriate statistical analysis of the data collected during the research project, and provide a reasoned interpretation of these results.
- Place the research findings in the context of current knowledge, identify limitations of the research, and be able to specify further areas for research.
- Analyze the policy implications and public health significance of the research findings.
Communications
Learning Objectives
- Make oral and poster presentations of research findings for professional audiences.
- Write manuscripts of publishable quality for the peer reviewed literature that describe and explain research findings.
- Teach other students basic introductory materials in the student's general area of expertise.
- Agbessi Amouzou
- Smisha Agarwal
- Naor Bar-Zeev
- Abdullah Baqui
- Chris Beyrer (joint)
- Robert Black
- Richard Chaisson (joint)
- Priya Duggal (joint)
- Anna Durbin
- Christine Marie George
- Robert Gilman
- Jonathan Golub (joint)
- Amita Gupta (joint)
- Laura Hammitt
- Christopher Heaney (joint)
- Ruth Karron
- Joanne Katz
- Alain Labrique
- Melissa Marx
- William Moss (joint)
- Lawrence Moulton
- Melinda Munos
- Douglas Norris (joint)
- Thomas Quinn (joint)
- Andrea Ruff
- David Sack
- Daniel Salmon
- Kawsar Talaat
- Jonathan Zenilman (joint)
Program Director: Sara Bennett, PhD
Program Coordinator: Abdul Bachani, PhD
Applicants must have a prior Master's degree in biological, health sciences, or alternatively in management or social sciences. Prior international or health systems experience is a significant advantage.
The overall goal of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in the Health Systems Program is to produce the next generation of leaders in health systems research and practice, particularly in low- and middle income country settings. Graduates of the PhD program in Health Systems should have the competencies to play leadership roles in: (a) health policy; (b) health planning, financing, and management; (c) monitoring and evaluation; (d) institution building and community development; (e) public health teaching; and (f) research on health systems; in low and middle-income countries or with disadvantaged populations in any part of the world.
Overall Program Goal
There are four overarching academic competencies applicable to each area of study, that students are expected to master during the course of their doctoral program. Students should be able to:
- Apply public health sciences to address health problems in vulnerable populations
- Provide leadership in health systems management and analysis
- Conduct independent research on health systems in low- and middle-income countries and vulnerable populations
- Communicate effectively with researchers, policy makers, and key stakeholders in health systems
- Joseph Ali
- Olakunle Alonge
- Abdullah Baqui
- Abdul Bachani
- Sara Bennett
- Stan Becker (joint)
- David Bishai (joint)
- William Brieger
- Andreea Creanga
- Shannon Doocy
- Azadeh Farzin (joint)
- Alain Labrique
- Maria Merritt
- Bryan Patenaude
- David Peters
- Ligia Paina
- Krishna Rao
- Courtland Robinson
- Mathuram Santosham
- Jeremy Shiffman
- Anthony So
- Paul Spiegel
- Antonio Trujillo
Program Director: Parul Christian, DrPH
Program Coordinator: Laura Caulfield, PhD
The program seeks to attract and train future experts and leaders in public health nutrition across a range of professional interests and backgrounds. Entry into the doctorate in philosophy (PhD) program in Human Nutrition requires, at a minimum, a bachelor's degree or its equivalent, preferably in nutritional, biological, food health or social sciences, public health practice, food security, economics or health policy with a minimum of one year of post-baccalaureate experience which can take the form of a master's degree, a dietetic internship, medical training or other relevant work experience.
The doctoral program in Human Nutrition is designed to train professionals to identify, understand and solve, through scientific methods, problems of public health importance in human nutrition. Graduates are expected to assume leadership roles in academia, government, industry and other private sector enterprises. They will be expected to advance knowledge in human nutrition through research and advocate the application of such knowledge through public health policies and programs.
Overall Program Goal
There are five overarching academic competencies, applicable to each area of study, that students are expected to master during the course of their doctoral program. Students should:
- Understand the biochemical, molecular, epidemiological, social and behavioral fundamentals of human nutrition
- Comprehend the complex interrelationships between food-and-nutrition and health-and-disease in diverse populations
- Master quantitative and qualitative analytic skills required to understand, critically evaluate and conduct nutrition research
- Be able to integrate ethical principles and standards in the conduct of human research
- Develop the professional skills necessary to communicate effectively
Students in the doctoral program in Human Nutrition are expected to gain knowledge and master skills in the following broad content areas of the curriculum, each with sub-areas of specialization:
Nutrition and Health
Sub-areas: Nutrition over the life span, social, cultural and behavioral influences, food and nutrition policy.
This content area of the curriculum has core competencies that can be addressed in a flexible manner, and in consultation with a student's academic adviser.
Learning Objectives – Know and understand:
- Nutritional processes in each stage of life
- Age-, disease- and physiologic state-specific nutrient requirements
- Social, political and cultural contexts influencing nutritional status of individuals and populations
- Pathological processes and how they influence nutritional well-being and vice versa
- Development and application of evidence-based food and nutrition policies
Biochemistry and Metabolism
Sub-areas: Nutrient metabolism
Minimum requirements in the area of metabolism would provide candidates with the biochemical and metabolic fundamentals of nutritional science.
Learning Objectives – Know and understand:
- Biochemical and metabolic pathways of macronutrients and micronutrients
- Relationship between cell structure and metabolism and nutrient functions
- Genetic basis of nutritional interactions and requirements
Research Methodology
Sub-Areas: Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Nutritional Assessment, Nutritional Epidemiology, Research Proposal Development, Qualitative Research Methods
Minimum required competencies in research methodology provide candidates with the quantitative and qualitative knowledge and skills for understanding and conducting research in human nutrition.
Learning Objectives – Know and understand concepts and terms
- Compose research questions
- Link nutrition research questions to appropriate study design, methods, analysis, interpretation, and writing
- Be familiar with underlying principles, methods of collection, analysis and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data
- Demonstrate ability to analyze a nutrition-related (e.g., dietary or nutritional status) data set
- Understand the use of nutrition reference data
- Demonstrate competence in one primary statistical software and data management package
- Understand the principles and use of nutrition-related laboratory techniques, equipment and field assessment methods
Professional Skills
Sub-areas: Grant writing, scholarly publishing, teaching and public speaking, ethics, information technology
The goal of the professional skills core curriculum is to provide the student with exposure to or experiences in important skills necessary to work effectively as a professional at the doctoral level., Development of these competencies occur through the academic process of the degree rather than through didactic coursework per se.
To support students in transitioning from coursework to thesis research, Dr. Caulfield leads the Doctoral Seminar in Proposal Development. Through the sequence, HN doctoral students (or those in other programs with research interests in nutrition) are engaged in career planning, identifying opportunities at Johns Hopkins, speaking and communicating their research ideas, persuasive written communication to various audiences, seeking research funding, and grant writing and budgeting. By the end of the sequence (2nd quarter of year 2), students are expected to have a solid draft of their research proposal and are planning for completion of the proposal and their oral exams. To support this process, and to reflect the academic work involved, students also sign up for varying credits of special studies with their adviser.
We encourage students to write and publish peer-reviewed scientific papers in addition to their thesis throughout their doctoral program. Dr. Gittelsohn offers a 2-quarter special studies course designed to assist students in writing their first research article for publication, or students may sign up for special studies with their adviser.
- Robert Black
- Laura Caulfield
- Vanessa Garcia Larsen
- Jessica Fanzo
- Mika Matsuzaki
- Joel Gittelsohn
- Jean Humphrey
- Kristen Hurley
- Yeeli Mui
- Amanda Palmer
- Keith P. West Jr.
- Julia Wolfson
Program Director: Caitlin Kennedy, PhD
Program Coordinator: Pamela Surkan, PhD ScD
Entrants into the program must have: professional experience and a master's degree in the health or social sciences.
The program exposes students to applied social science and health education/communication theory and methods for health-related research, program implementation, and evaluation. Coursework emphasizes theoretical and methodological approaches within applied medical anthropology and social determinants of health, qualitative and quantitative methods, competency within a specific cultural/geographic area, and principles and methods for community-based intervention research.
- William Brieger
- Svea Closser
- Julie Denison
- Joel Gittelsohn
- Steven Harvey
- Caitlin Kennedy
- Victoria O'Keefe
- Haneefa Saleem
- Pamela Surkan
- Melissa Walls
- Peter Winch