Quantitative Pipeline & Individual Course Descriptions

Quantitative Pipeline

STREaM trainees will be assigned a primary STREaM mentor who will work with the trainee to map out an individual curriculum, drawn from the available coursework, and tailored to the individual trainee’s educational goals. STREaM is not a “one size fits all” curriculum. The coursework available through STREaM US-based partner institutions can be placed along a spectrum of complexity, from fundamental conceptual courses through advanced machine learning application (Figure 1).

STREaM Program’s goals are to create a multidisciplinary cohort of injury control and trauma research experts who can use their different backgrounds and skill sets to work together to reduce the burden of trauma in Cameroon. Accordingly, each trainee may enter the quantitative pipeline at a level suitable to their background, then continue along this pipeline until their scholastic goals are met. This model allows one set of course offerings to be flexible enough to adapt to each trainee’s individual academic background and ability at baseline, then grow with them until they achieve their target skill level. The intended outcome of this approach is to create an academically diverse cohort with a minimum fundamental fluency in quantitative methodology to allow their academic backgrounds to interact as a complementary, transdisciplinary team.

Course Offerings

STREaM Cameroon will draw on the rich resources of its partner institutions to provide trainees coursework from Buea, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCSF. In addition to the required MPH and PhD courses at Buea, STREaM trainees will have access to the courses listed in the table below.

Institution	Course #	Course Title	Duration	STREaM Audience
PASE-UCLA	TRF 1	Injury Epidemiology	8 weeks	All trainees
PASE-UCLA	TRF 2	Injury Prevention	8 weeks	All trainees
PASE-UCLA	TRF 3	Trauma Systems	8 weeks	All trainees
PASE-UCLA	TRF 4	Trauma Quality Improvement	8 weeks	All trainees
UC Berkeley	PBH250B	Epidemiologic Methods II	15 weeks	MPHs, PhDs as needed
UC Berkeley	PHW252C	Intervention Trial Design	15 weeks	MPHs, PhDs as needed
UC Berkeley	PH142	Introduction to Probability and Statistics in Biology and Public Health	15 weeks	MPHs
UC Berkeley	PH290	R for Public Health	15 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed
UC Berkeley	PH241	Statistical Analysis of Categorical Data	15 weeks	MPHs, PhDs as needed
UC Berkeley	PH145	Statistical Analysis of Continuous Outcome Data	15 weeks	MPHs, PhDs as needed
UC Berkeley	PH245	Introduction to Multivariate Statistics	15 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed
UC Berkeley	PH244	Big Data: A Public Health Perspective	15 weeks	PhDs, Post Docs
UC Berkeley	PH252D	Introduction to Causal Inference	15 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed
UC Berkeley		Applied short course in advanced applied statistics: causal inference and machine learning		PhDs, Post Docs
UCLA CTSI	BIOMATH M261	Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans	10 weeks	All trainees
UCLA CTSI	BIOMATH M262	Communication of Science (Grant Writing)	10 weeks	All trainees
UCLA CTSI	BIOMATH M260B	Methodologies in Clinical Research Longitudinal and Community Studies	10 weeks	All trainees
UCSF CTSI	IMS 245	Introduction to Implementation Science Theory and Design	10 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed
UCSF CTSI	IMS 246	Designing Individual-Level Implementation Strategies	10 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed
UCSF CTSI	IMS 247	Designing Interventions to Change Organizational Behavior	10 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed
UCSF CTSI	IMS 248	Community Engaged Research	10 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed
UCSF CTSI	IMS 242	Program Evaluation in Clinical and Public Health Settings	10 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed
UCSF CTSI	IMS 241	Study Designs for Intervention in Real World Settings	10 weeks	MPHs, PhDs, Post Docs as needed

Coursework at UC Berkeley(Link is external) (Link opens in new window)

UC Berkeley courses(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) spanning increasingly sophisticated analytic and statistical methodology, ranging from basic probability and statistics, study design, and multivariable regression through more complex topics for PhD and postdoc-level trainees such as causal inference and machine learning. Most of the selected courses are already designed for remote learning with the input of experienced instructional designers and employ best practices for asynchronous learning.

Epidemiologic Methods II
Intervention Trial Design
Introduction to Probability and Statistics in Biology and Public Health
R for Public Health
Statistical Analysis of Categorical Data
Introduction to Multivariate Statistics
Big Data: A Public Health Perspective
Introduction to Causal Inference
Applied short course in advanced applied statistics: causal inference and machine learning

Coursework at UCLA-CTSI(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) (Professional Development Curriculum)

The UCLA-CTSI(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) Training Program in Translational Science offers an array of graduate-level courses, including those in research conduct, ethics, and grant writing. All STREaM trainees will take the following required coursework:

Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans: Responsible conduct of clinical research, including reporting, basis for authorship, principles and practice of human research, conflicts of interest, IRBs, and related topics. Clinical Research Certificate is awarded at completion.
Communication of Science: Details of writing scientific articles, review articles, grant submissions (aims, background, results, design), role of appendices, and communication with a lay public.
Methodologies in Clinical Research, Longitudinal and Community Studies: Practices of research, including personnel management, data management, and research administration.

Coursework at UCSF-CTSI(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) (Implementation Science)

UCSF-CTSI’s(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) individual implementation science courses may be taken by postdocs, PhD, or MPH students, as interested. Students may also opt to take the UCSF CTSI certificate program by completing all six courses.

Introduction to Implementation Science Theory and Design(Link is external) (Link opens in new window): Apply a conceptual framework for translating evidence into practice, policy, and public health; apply theory and evidence to the design of effective implementation strategies; evaluate and analyze implementation strategies.
Designing Individual-Level Implementation Strategies(Link is external) (Link opens in new window): Behavior change theories across a range of contexts and intervention design frameworks. Application of theory and frameworks to select behavior change targets; characterize barriers and enablers of behavior change; and identify techniques likely to be effective in addressing key barriers and enablers of behavior change.
Designing Interventions to Change Organizational Behavior(Link is external) (Link opens in new window): Surveys a range of translational tools at the system level to promote the adoption of evidence-based medicine by providers and delivery systems.
Community-Engaged Research(Link is external) (Link opens in new window): Theory and practice of engaging stakeholders in intervention design, and implementation. Participatory research methods; adapt health interventions to real-world contexts.
Program Evaluation in Clinical and Public Health Settings(Link is external) (Link opens in new window): Approaches to evaluating a health intervention in a clinical or public health setting. Logic models and evaluation frameworks to guide the collection of information to 1) understand if an implementation strategy is meeting goals and objectives; 2) improve implementation strategy effectiveness; and 3) make decisions about future programming.
Study Designs for Intervention Research in Real-World Settings(Link is external) (Link opens in new window): The main components of alternatives to individual randomized control trials that can be used to evaluate interventions placed in real world settings. Discusses which design is most suited to a range of settings and circumstances.

STREaM Cameroon is supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number D43TW012186.

Quantitative Pipeline & Individual Course Descriptions