Department Health Evidence

Education Health Evidence

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With about 80 epidemiologists, biostatisticians, HTA experts, toxicologists and supporting staff we contribute to the Bachelor's and Master's programs in Biomedical Sciences and in Medicine, as well as to additional and post academic training.

• Bachelor's programs

  Students of Biomedical Sciences (BMS) and of Medicine are seen as starting colleagues, and they learn to connect research methods theory with clinical research practice. These principles follow the epidemiological method of determining the frequency of disease in clinical and general populations. The teaching of biostatistics is mainly on descriptive statistics, precision measures and confidence intervals. By means of blended learning and self-directed learning the educational materials are scheduled in the curriculum line Community, Science and Innovation (CSI).
  
  In addition, BMS students broaden and deepen their knowledge and skills in research in the curriculum line ‘Research’. Both student groups work together in scientific and innovation projects during the first two years of the Bachelor's program.
  
  The Department for Health Evidence organizes various minors in the third and final year of the Bachelor's program:

  • Biomedical Research Methods
  • Clinical Research: principles and practice
  • Global Health and Infectious diseases
  • Health Technology innovation and assessment
  • Human embryology in perspective

  
  > Bachelor's in Biomedical Sciences (Dutch)
  > Bachelor's in Medicine (Dutch)

• Master's in Biomedical Sciences

  Master students Biomedical Sciences can choose from one of eight specialisations, and combine that with a career profile. The research institutes are the learning environment, and a specialisation coordinator will help to design a study program and will act as coach during the master.
  
  Our department hosts two specialisations (Health Technology Assessment and Epidemiology).  In addition, our department is responsible for two profiles ‘consultation’ and ‘communication’ and contributes to career profiles.
  
  Since the academic year 2017-2018, more than 70 master courses have been developed, which form the basis of the master BMS curriculum. Our department contributes approximately in one third of these courses.
   
  Master students BMS can also specialise in epidemiology and obtain a formal registration as epidemiologist A (by the Dutch Epidemiology Society). It is also possible to specialise in Health Technology Assessment (without a formal registration).

  > Master's in Biomedical Sciences

• Master's in Medicine

  Our department delivers a two-weeks’ course every month, called CKO-9: Orientation Towards your Research Internship. The aim of the course is to practice all aspects of research in the field of medical sciences, and is specifically applied to the student’s own research internship.
  
  > Master's in Medicine (in Dutch)
   

• Postgraduate courses

  1. Biometrics
  2. Radboud Summer School: Molecules, Mice and Math: A Statistical Toolbox for the Lab

Consultancy Facilities and services

In a collaborative relationship, the consultant may be involved in all kinds of research aspects, for example the design of a study, the analysis of the policy issue related to the research question, the assessment of sample size, the writing of sections of a protocol, the execution of a cost-effectiveness analysis, the development of data collection forms, data management activities, devising and executing the simple and complex analyses, and the preparation of scientific publications. 

Quality

The biostatisticians of our department are registered as Biostatistician VVS (The Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research). They all have a mathematical academic background and long-term experience in various kinds of medical problems to guarantee high-level statistical support, including quality control of data, application of up-to-date statistical methods and collaboration in responsible scientific publications.  

The HTA experts of our department, all with a PhD and active member of the NVTAG (Dutch Society for HTA), have a background in biology, economics, psychology, philosophy or biomedical sciences and long-term experience in collaborative HTA projects.  

The senior epidemiologists of our department, all with a PhD degree and registered as senior epidemiologists with the VvE (Dutch Society for Epidemiology), have various professional backgrounds (medicine, biomedical sciences, occupational/environmental health, nutrition) and long-term experience in dealing with translating medical problems into epidemiological designs. 

Statistical support

For researchers at Radboudumc who need statistical support: please fill out the webform for free first statistical support: Intranet > Support > Biostatistics.

Examples of consultancy services

• analysis of diagnostic problems
• clinical trials and prognostic factors
• policy analyses
• design and conduct of experiments 
• data (safety) monitoring boards 
• meta-analyses 
• cost effectiveness analyses
• quality of life measurement
• medical decision analyses
• advanced statistical, mathematical and economical modelling
• GCP, and other (international) guidance documents 
• design and analysis of aetiological studies
• analysis of measurement error 
• design and analysis of screening studies 
• genetic epidemiology 
• cluster design and analysis 
• simulation studies 
• complicated statistical designs and analyses 
• clinimetrics 
• time series 
• data base design 
• training in statistical packages 

Research Lab for Molecular Epidemiology Facilities and services

The Research Lab for Molecular Epidemiology  has contributed to a considerable number of national and international research projects in the field of occupational and environmental health.

Research highlights

Highlights of research with impact on health improvement and prevention of health effects are:

• Development of exposure surveillance methods for exposure monitoring of cytostatic drugs
• Ensuring safe conditions for astronauts who conduct research in the International Space Station
• Assessment of the uptake and bio-activation of coal tar products in the dermatology clinic
• Uptake of ingredients of personal care products dermal absorption and inhalation
• Supporting good practices in the use of hazardous chemicals in industrial settings
• Development of sustainable alternatives for biocides used for disinfection
• Biomonitoring was introduced in response to chemical incidents and disasters. 

Services

The laboratory provides the following services:

• Biomonitoring of 120+ chemical substances for health surveillance and emergency response
• Indoor air quality for chemical factors and effects of air purification systems
• Risk assessment related to worker’s and consumer’s health and safety

Contact

For futher information, do not hesitate to contact Paul Scheepers.