Cardiology and Pulmonary Training Program
Background and History
The School of Medicine established the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) in 1993 as the primary home for epidemiology and biostatistics at Penn. Through its predecessor, the Clinical Epidemiology Unit (CEU), now subsumed within the CCEB, the CCEB has been involved in epidemiologic and biostatistical teaching and research since 1978. The CCEB is directed by Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH, the Director for the Cardiology and Pulmonary Research Training Program.
The CCEB aims to improve public health by linking epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical medicine, and the health sciences; bringing epidemiologic and biostatistical research methods to basic science and clinical research; and conveying an understanding of research methodology to the health sciences. The CCEB is inherently multidisciplinary. Its faculty have advanced degrees in various disciplines, including applied and pure mathematics, biostatistics and statistics, clinical pharmacy, decision science, economics, epidemiology, genetic counseling, genetics, health services and administration, health policy, history and sociology of science, information science, pharmacology and toxicology, public health, sociology, and social work.
The CCEB trained its first trainee in cardiology and pulmonary research in 1992; this program has been funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute since 1998. Twenty-two cardiology or pulmonary epidemiologists have received fellowships since the inception of the training program, now conducted in collaboration with the Cardiovascular Institute, the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Clinical Care Division.
The fellowship training program is directed by Dr. Strom. Dr. Strom works closely with three Co-Directors in the management of this program: Michael S. Parmacek, MD, Chief of the Cardiovascular Medicine Division and Director of the Cardiovascular Institute; John Hansen-Flaschen, MD, Chief of the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division; and Stephen Kimmel, MD, MSCE, Director of Cardiovascular Epidemiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
