| Topic |
Speaker: Assoc Prof Rob Van Dam
Title: Nutrition, obesity and cardiovascular disease
Short Synopsis: What we eat and drink can affect our health in many ways. A lack of essential nutrients (vitamins, minerals, selected fatty acids and amino acids) can lead to severe deficiency diseases and low energy or protein intake can lead to malnutrition. Excess energy intake, 'overeating', can also lead to ill health: accumulation of too much body fat can interfere with normal metabolism and contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and certain types of cancer. In terms of public health interventions, it is increasingly realized than only educational initiatives have limited impact on improving lifestyles. An approach where healthier choices become easy or even default choices by changing the food and physical activity environmental is also warranted. This lecture will be an opportunity to engage students in a discussion on novel policies and interventions to improve dietary intakes of the population and contain the future burden of chronic diseases.
Objectives:
1. To know about the global prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases and how economic transitions are typically accompanied by epidemiological and dietary transitions.
2. To have a basic understanding about the ways that dietary intakes can affect the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases
3. To reflect on determinants of dietary intakes in the populations and a diversity of intervention and policy initiatives that can improve dietary intakes and reduce the incidence of chronic diseases.
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Speaker: Dr Raymond Lim
Title: HIV prevention education in Singapore: Challenges for the future
Short Synopsis:
This seminar will focus on a critical review of HIV treatment and prevention education in Singapore. Some of the latest developments in HIV prevention will also be discussed such as using treatment as prevention (TasP).
Objectives:
1. To have a basic understanding of public health communication on sensitive topics
2. To appreciate the need for social and behavioral interventions
3. To appreciate the social stigma and ethical issues in HIV treatment and prevention
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Speaker: Dr Mark Chen
Title: What makes communicable diseases so special?
Short Synopsis: Communicable diseases involve the interaction between host organisms and microbes, giving rise to some special properties not seen in non-communicable diseases, with interesting implications.
Objectives:
1. To gain an appreciation of the properties of infectious diseases that make them so special;
2. To understand how these properties affect the way we study, control and prevent communicable diseases
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Speaker: Assoc Prof Sri Chander
Title: Maternal and Child Health
Short synopsis: Investing in the health of women and children is critical for every nation’s development. The countdown to meet the global Millennium Developments goals for child and maternal mortality reduction is less than a year away—end 2015. What is the current state of progress? We will discuss the main challenges and critical program gaps encountering women, children, providers, and policymakers in some of the world's most vulnerable communities. How can the global community’s collective commitment ensure that more children live past their fifth birthday and fewer women die or suffer complications during pregnancy and childbirth? We will learn how a life course perspective can be applied to gain a critical understanding of maternal and child health issues.
Objectives:
1. To discuss the causes and trends of new born, infant, child, adolescent and maternal deaths and illnesses
2. To understand key factors (gender, behavioural, socio-cultural, economic, geographic & policy, etc) influencing their vulnerability to disease and /or death
3. To describe and critically evaluate responses to mitigate these preventable deaths and illnesses
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Speaker: Prof Ong Choon Nam
Title: Forest Fires, Climate Change & Singapore: Challenges, Opportunities, Partnerships
Short synopsis: This lecture cum seminar will focus on the interactions on environment sustainability for Singapore and the region and how it will affect public health. Some of the recent development and topical issues such as forest fires, haze and climate change on public health will also be discussed.
Objectives:
Have a basic understanding of
1. What are the major environmental factors that will affect public health in Singapore and the region?
2. Why a sustainable environment is critical to public health?
3. What are the main challenges to maintain a sustainable environment?
4. How can we have a sustainable environment?
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Speaker: Assoc Prof Teo Yik Ying
Title: Public Health in the Era of Genomics
Short synopsis: This seminar will provide an introduction to how the advent of genomic technology is expected to impact multiple aspects of public health and the practice of clinical medicine. This seminar will also review the development of genomics in pharmacology, infectious and chronic diseases, the integration of population cohort studies with genetics and the challenges and opportunities present in public health genomics.
Objectives:
1. To appreciate the different facets of public health that are impacted by the genomic revolution
2. To understand the challenges and opportunities that the genomic era presents for public health
3. To realize the importance in gearing up the healthcare agencies to understand, interpret and utilize genomic information in the formulation of public health policies.
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Speaker: Assoc Prof Mikael Hartman
Title: Breast Cancer: epidemiologic methods to understand it and its risk factors
Short Synopsis:
Using breast cancer as an example, this module covers measurement of health, disease states and their risk factors in populations using routine hospital or population data and epidemiologic surveys for the prevention or early detection of disease. Principles in the design and conduct of observational epidemiologic studies and associated potential bias and confounding will be introduced. Screening for disease, in particular the principles behind this, will also be briefly covered.
Objectives:
1. To receive an overview of epidemiology and epidemiological methods to study breast cancer
2. To understand the risk factors associated with breast cancer and appreciate how this could change over time for different populations.
3. To be aware of screening for breast cancer, its options and limitations.
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Speaker: Dr Hanh Hao La
Title: Estimating sizes of key populations
Short Synopsis:
We often know the prevalence of a disease in populations at risk, yet we do not know the size of these key populations. Estimates of key populations are needed to help with policy and program planning and management. Using HIV as a case example, this seminar will discuss indirect and direct methods to estimate the size of key, and often hidden, populations.
Objectives:
1. To receive an overview of direct and indirect methods of estimating sizes of key populations at risk for HIV
2. To understand the advantages and disadvantages of each method
3. To appreciate how estimates of key populations can be used in HIV policy and programming decisions
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Speaker: Assoc Prof Alex Cook
Title: Controlling dengue in Singapore
Short synopsis: Dengue is a vector borne disease that is endemic to Singapore and that has large health and economic impacts on the country. Unlike influenza or many other viruses, dengue is in a sense easier to control, because without the mosquito, there can be no transmission of the virus, and as a result, Singapore invests a lot in vector control. Despite this, the virus continues to circulate. In this class, we will look at the epidemiology of dengue in Singapore and consider what are the factors that prevent us from eliminating dengue.
Objectives:
At the end of the class, students should have a good understanding of the basic epidemiology of dengue, methods we are using to prevent dengue transmission, and new methods of vector control that are being developed.
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Speaker: Assoc Prof Norbert Ludwig Wagner
Title: The Health of Workers – how our tastes shape the health of people globally
Short Synopsis:
People have to work to sustain themselves and to create a future for their families. Work therefore shapes our life and the life of others. Through the globalization of production, trade and consumption the health of millions of people around the globe are connected and determined. We will look at working conditions in the formal and informal sector, the risks and chances work creates for a healthy life and how our own tastes and fashions shape the fate of people in other continents.
Objectives:
1. Name major diseases and occupational risks that contribute to the current global burden of disease through work
2. Identify examples how consumption patterns in one part of the world influence living conditions in other parts of the world and potentially contribute to health inequalities
3. Discuss social and working conditions of the informal sector of economy |