Welcoming a New BU Epidemiology PhD Program Director: Dr. Jaimie Gradus

I am thrilled to announce that Dr. Jaimie Gradus is our new PhD Program Director for the Boston University School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology. Our former Chair and Program Director, Dr. Martha Werler passed the baton to Dr. Gradus in January (Dr. Werler continues to lead her research on pregnancy exposures on birth outcomes).? We will hold a small celebration Thursday to thank Dr. Werler for her steady hand and compassionate leadership, and especially through many extraordinary challenges such as the pandemic. Her vision and commitment through years of service as Chair, Co-director with Dr. Sherri Stuver, and then Director of the PhD program created a thriving community and many grateful students and colleagues.??

Dr. Gradus will maintain the high caliber of training in this next era of the PhD program, and build on the exceptional strengths of BU Epi.? These include research clusters in methodology, including measurement, sampling, recruitment, study design and causal inference; social and structural determinants of health; environmental and spatial determinants of health; stress, trauma and mental health as exposures and health outcomes; reproductive, gynecologic, perinatal, and developmental epidemiology; infectious diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, and COVID-19; and aging and chronic disease, including dementia, cardiovascular disease, and disability.??

For many research areas, BUSPH is already among the best departments in the country to pursue a PhD in epidemiology, benefiting from national leaders in the field in the context of a stellar School of Public Health and larger community. As we grow with new incoming faculty and emerging stars redefining the methods used and topics addressed in epidemiology, the breadth of excellence will continue to grow. Dr. Gradus and colleagues are developing field-leading curricula in social epidemiology, reproductive epidemiology, and other domains, emphasizing outstanding research methods with a focus on skill-building for reproducible research and data-intensive research methods. BU’s PhD program has always offered highly tailored mentoring and teaching, with strong emphases on graduating students at the forefront of the field with exceptional technical skills tackling important research agendas.?

Dr. Gradus said “As a graduate of the epidemiology doctoral program myself (2009), I have felt grateful for my time at BUSPH so many times over the years. I received excellent training in epidemiology, incredible support from faculty, staff, and my peers, and formed relationships that I still count among some of the most important in my life. It is truly an honor to have a role in ensuring that our current and future doctoral students get to have the same experience. It is also really exciting to work with Dr. Glymour and our current and incoming faculty to direct the program toward being what the next generation of epidemiologists will need to have a thriving and fulfilling career“.?