Monash University - School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (Website)

Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (DEPM)

The Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (DEPM) is a major research and teaching department within the Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. DEPM was established in 1969 at the Monash University Medical School, Alfred Hospital and due to an increasing number of activities and staff, the Department relocated to the Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct (AMREP) in 2004, where it is collocated with several other active research Institutes and Centres. The Department presently consists of over 100 staff, comprising medical specialists in public health and other clinical areas, epidemiologists, other scientists, biostatisticians, clinical research staff, data managers, research assistants and nurses, teaching and administrative staff.

Our core skills relate to epidemiology (the study of the distribution, risk factors and causes of disease) and its application to problems in clinical medicine and public health. The Department has several research units in areas such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory epidemiology, occupational and environmental Health, trauma, health services management, musculoskeletal disease, diagnostics, infectious diseases, therapeutics, health risk assessment and international health. We have a broad range of research activities designed to prevent and manage illnesses and injury of national importance among the Australian population and have strong collaborative links nationally and internationally. We have a strong track record of attracting NHMRC and other nationally competitive research funding and also undertake contract research and provide advice to state and federal governments, industry and professional bodies.

The Department is a partner in the Victorian Consortium for Public Health, the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment, the Victorian Trauma Registry, the Australian Centre for Human Health Risk Assessment, Clinical Trials Victoria, two NHMRC Centres of Clinical Research Excellence and the Centre for Research Excellence in Patient Safety. We are also a partner in the consortium running the Health and Aging Postgraduate Studies program for the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

We train future doctors, medical researchers and public health practitioners and managers through our undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs, which include -
• Teaching of undergraduate medical and biomedical science students,
• An extensive postgraduate program including the Master of Public Health degree, and a broad range of other masters, graduate diploma, graduate certificate and specialty courses, and
• A PhD and doctorate in public health training program, with about 35 currently enrolled doctoral students.

Head: Professor John McNeil
Monash University - Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (DEPM)