The Public Health Approach course is the first instalment of the wider Foundations of Public Health Practice specialisation from Imperial College London's Global Master of Public Health (MPH). The scope and content of this course has been developed from the ground up by a combined team of academics and practitioners drawing on decades of real-world public health experience as well as deep academic knowledge. Through short video lectures, practitioner interviews and a wide range of interactive activities, learners will be immersed in the world of public health practice. Designed for those new to the discipline, over four modules (intended for four weeks of learning), learners will become familiar with the scope, origins, ethics, principles and paradigms of public health practice. But there is also important foundational content for those coming from more experienced practitioner backgrounds. The 'Public Health Approach' is a phrase that is used widely to describe an up-stream, preventive, values-driven and evidence-based approach to improving population health. By the end of this course, learners will be confident with identifying and describing a wide range of public health challenges using the language and reference points of the public health profession. The subsequent courses require the knowledge from this course, as learners will be introduced to the public health toolkit of health needs assessment and evaluation, before taking deeper dives into behaviour change and health protection.

Welcome ! Welcome to this on-demand MOOC “In the footsteps of Zika… approaching the unknown”. This MOOC has been produced by Université de Genève (www.unige.ch), Institut Pasteur (www.pasteur.fr), Université Paris Descartes (www.parisdescartes.fr) and Centre Virchow-Villermé (virchowvillerme.eu). With the help of the intervention of faculty members and international experts, we will explore together the recent Zika phenomenon, a previously rare benign virus that recently turned unexpectedly into the limelight when on the 1st of February 2016 it was declared by the WHO as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. As this outbreak is still ongoing and under close investigation, this MOOC has the opportunity to be an open learning experience that will follow the marked developments and new discoveries over time. This MOOC will bring you to the heart of the Zika outbreak and invite you to this adventure in uncharted territories. Moreover, we invite you to join the interactive dialogue among participants and facilitators through a community of practice, which promotes questions, critical thinking, participatory learning, as well as interrelated and ongoing collaborative information. Let us learn hand in hand all together to go further in finding clues and eventually solutions! Course description This interdisciplinary course is divided into 8 modules available in 4 languages (subtitles in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish). Each module is organized around a central topic that will help those who take the course to develop their skills and knowledge. Each module provides - interviews with specialists - quizes - recommended readings - online videos and web links. This MOOC will cover a range of topics, such as epidemiology, historical and geographical dispersion of the virus and its vectors through globalization and climate change, its modes of transmission, but also the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. The different types of preventive measures will be also covered. A special module will focus on possible neurological adverse effects such as the risk for birth defects (microcephaly) in pregnant women, while another one will examine the peripheral nerve paralysis called the Guillain-Barré syndrome. The fact that Zika presents a significant threat to political and economic stabilities and thus reinforces social inequity through South America will be addressed. The revolution in cultural, religious, and legal norms in front of the expansion of Zika will be also debated. Finally, the last two modules will state the role, recommendations and response measures of policy makers and public health organizations under the light of medias.

Our society depends on the availability of food and accessibility to it. According to the United Nations nearly 800 million people are hungry and on the other hand, over 650 million people are obese. While many people in developing countries experience food shortage, in industrialized countries people are throwing food away. These facts show how paradoxical and complex the world’s food problem is. ln this course, more than 10 food researchers from Utrecht University will address the main issues of food consumption. They will handle two interrelated themes; Food shortage and Healthy choices. You will learn to identify the key ingredients of the world’s food challenges and to think about the solutions for enabling changes in the current food system. We will also look at the possible sustainable solutions for several accut issues: the demands of the growing human population, the role of nutrition, and the need to understand food choices in order to have healthier diet and consider the possibilities of alternative foods. We invite you to join us on an interdisciplinary journey through the world food problems. You will gain new knowledge and insights that will help you form your own opinion on these subjects and make better choices in your food consumption. We hope you will enjoy the course! The Future Food Team

Humans often fail to make rational decisions that affect their health. This course seeks to heighten understanding of the social and behavioral factors that contribute to health decisions and behaviors, with an ultimate goal of learning how to utilize these factors in improving public health efforts. Through a set of experiential learning exercises, students will learn to apply the science of health behavior change in their own lives. The course is appropriate for students interested in health care and public health, as well as individuals who are interested in learning to apply the science of behavior change to improve their personal wellbeing.

In your previous course, you learned some medical interventions and skills to keep newborns healthy in the days and weeks after they have been born. In this course, you will learn what some additional skills that medical providers do to keep babies healthy. The Newborn Assessment Course will walk you through the physical examination from head to toe. You are going to learn that this is so much we can discover just by looking at a baby. And yes, we will be listening too, and discussing how medical equipment, such as a stethoscope or a pulse oximeter, can help in your exam. You will begin to be able to distinguish some normal findings from some abnormal findings. In all of the modules up until this one, we have discussed abnormalities or illnesses of newborns. In order to understand and recognize what is not normal, it is worthwhile to be clear on what is normal. In this module, Dr. Kohn will demonstrate how to examine a very well newborn. Aside from the obvious size differences and the unbelievable cuteness of newborns relative to adults, there are the influences of fetal development and transition that impact the newborn exam. Keep in mind that your exam may be the first physical evaluation that this baby has in its life! Our task as providers of health care to newborns is to detect which of the many seemingly well babies has an underlying health care problem that needs to be addressed. Previously, we reviewed the screening method that we use to look for critical congenital heart disease. In this module, we will cover the surveillance technique, that is, the physical findings that should make us suspect a newborn might have congenital heart disease. Nearly 41% of children who die under the age of 5 are less than 28 days old. The first month of life is a particularly vulnerable time for these little ones. In this module, you will learn some signs or symptoms that are concerning in newborns in the first month of life, and that need medical attention. You will also learn some common findings that are concerning to parents, but not concerning medically. Those are conditions for which reassurance and/or watchful waiting is appropriate. Distinguishing between concerning and benign conditions will help you ensure the safety and health of newborn babies! A newborn baby is an amazing beautiful life filled with hope. Unfortunately, many babies die or experience preventable harm even in 21st century. It is imperative that babies who are born healthy get off to a healthy start in the first month of life. There are some easy tenets of care to implement that help ensure that babies and families get off to a healthy start no matter where they are in the world. In this specialization learners will acquire the skills necessary for newborn baby care to optimize their health in the hours, days and weeks after they are born.

Epidemiological studies can provide valuable insights about the frequency of a disease, its potential causes and the effectiveness of available treatments. Selecting an appropriate study design can take you a long way when trying to answer such a question. However, this is by no means enough. A study can yield biased results for many different reasons. This course offers an introduction to some of these factors and provides guidance on how to deal with bias in epidemiological research. In this course you will learn about the main types of bias and what effect they might have on your study findings. You will then focus on the concept of confounding and you will explore various methods to identify and control for confounding in different study designs. In the last module of this course we will discuss the phenomenon of effect modification, which is key to understanding and interpreting study results. We will finish the course with a broader discussion of causality in epidemiology and we will highlight how you can utilise all the tools that you have learnt to decide whether your findings indicate a true association and if this can be considered causal.

Often called “the cornerstone” of public health, epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases, health conditions, or events among populations and the application of that study to control health problems. By applying the concepts learned in this course to current public health problems and issues, students will understand the practice of epidemiology as it relates to real life and makes for a better appreciation of public health programs and policies. This course explores public health issues like cardiovascular and infectious diseases – both locally and globally – through the lens of epidemiology.

Introduces students to the core principles of health equity research. Covers topics such as defining health equity, engaging community and policy stakeholders, patient-centeredness, cultural competence, and dissemination of research findings. Content will recognize different geographic, cultural, and social contexts where health inequities occur.

This History of Medical Cannabis course is designed to have you think critically about past, present, and future research on the health effects of cannabis by developing a more nuanced understanding of the barriers to research as well as different approaches to research. You will learn about the history of cannabis cultivation, the legal history of cannabis or "marijuana", and the obstacles that led to the lack of science on its medicinal use. You will also learn how to critically evaluate research on the effects of cannabis and discuss the associated risks of using cannabis in the context of public health and epidemiological research. Finally, you will learn about how to administer cannabis products in ways that minimize risk and maximize any potential benefits. Obtaining this knowledge will be helpful in terms of informing public policy, public health, and personal decisions regarding the use of cannabis products.

Synbio is a diverse field with diverse applications, and the different contexts (e.g., gain-of-function research, biofuels) raise different ethical and governance challenges. The objective of this course is to increase learners’ awareness and understanding of ethical and policy/governance issues that arise in the design, conduct and application of synthetic biology. The course will begin with a short history of recombinant DNA technology and how governance of that science developed and evolved, and progress through a series of areas of application of synbio. Content will be presented in many forms, including not only reading and lectures, but also recorded and live interviews and discussions with scientists, ethicists and policy makers. Learners will have the opportunity to think, write and talk about the issues and challenges in their own work and in real-life case examples. A final project will engage students in the development of governance models for synbio.