Health economics is a growing field of applied microeconomics and is an important aspect of public policy. This course explores the health care sector and health policy issues from an economic perspective. Microeconomics tools will be used to analyze the functioning of different pieces of the health care system. Topics will range from fundamental subjects, such as the demand for health, to more recent developments, such as mental health, child health and risky health behaviors. This course teaches an economic approach to studying the various policies that affect health and health behaviors.

This required course for GHP students explores how we study the distribution and determinants of disease, introducing methods for measuring health status, disease occurrence, the association between risk factors and health outcomes, probing evidence for causality, and characterizing how ecology and evolution shapes human health. Emphasis on: study design and sampling, bias and confounding, the generalizability of research, identifying causality, infectious disease dynamics, global health.

This course explores how new developments in science, medicine, and technology shaped European cultures during three crucial centuries, from 1400-1700. During this period, knowledge of nature was transformed by the rediscovery of ancient texts, the invention of new technologies, and encounters with new lands and peoples. Political upheaval, religious Reformation, and the expansion of global commerce and colonization also affected how science was carried out, and by whom. From medicine and mechanics to alchemy and magic, this course examines the interplay between natural knowledge and human culture.

This course examines current issues on health in Latin America, with a special focus on health policy. The course consists of two parts: the first part explores social determinants of health, health inequities, and counter-hegemonic views of health in the region. The second part analyzes health systems and health reforms in comparative perspective, including the cases of Brazil, Chile, Cuba, and Costa Rica. Based on these cases we assess advantages, shortcomings, and problems of implementation of health systems based on (1) social insurance, (2) national health service, or (3) market-driven factors.

In this course, we will explore the diverse and complex interactions between the brain and the immune system from the perspective of current, cutting-edge research papers. In particular, we will focus on the molecular mechanisms of these interactions and their role in brain development and function as well as their potential contributions to specific neurological disorders, including autism. In the process, students will learn to read, critically evaluate, and explain in presentations the content of articles from the primary literature. Prerequisites: MOL 214/215.

The objectives of this course are to understand the bio-psycho-social/processes that influence health-related behaviors, health and wellness, and health-care delivery. Topics to be examined include the psycho-physiological, neuro-psychological and socio-cultural bases of health and illness; pain; adaptation to chronic illness; stress; personality and illness; death, dying, and grief; substance use; obesity and nutrition.

This course explores the biochemical foundations of human physiology and how it is disturbed in disease. We discuss the roles of metabolic, the cardiovascular, and immune systems in various diseases, particularly cancer. Specific topics include: the functions of the major organ systems, and how we measure and model their activity; nutrition and the maintenance of metabolic homeostasis; the anti-tumor immune response; the origins, consequences, and major treatment paradigms of cancer; and the process of translating basic science into novel therapies. The class will consist of lectures and student-led discussions of scientific papers.

The Affordable Care Act, enacted in 2010, was the defining (and polarizing) initiative of the Obama era, with provisions to expand health insurance coverage, control health care costs, and improve the health care delivery system. This course will focus on the history of health reform, as well as implementation challenges since the law's enactment. We will examine the federal regulatory process, the many legal challenges to the law, the role that states have played in implementation, and Congressional repeal efforts. We will also investigate the role of federalism in health care policy and the future of health care reform.