Public Accessible Database

 

CDC Wonder (http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/sci_data/sci_data.asp): The CDC Scientific Data Repository (also known as the Scientific Data Archives) provides storage and access to the CDC data sets and the documentation for CDC scientists. Customer service is available to provide assistance with data access, and limited custom data runs and analysis of public use data. Many of these data sets, and additional data that are not included here, are also directly available to the general public from the National Center for Health Statistics. 

 

NCHS website (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/express.htm):  NCHS has two major types of data systems: systems based on populations, containing data collected through personal interviews or examinations; and systems based on records, containing data collected from vital and medical records.

 

NHANES (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm): As a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) conducts the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). NHANES is the only national survey that collects extensive health information from both face-to-face interviews and medical examinations.  Data from NHANES surveys have provided unique opportunities to study major nutrition, infection, environmental, and chronic health conditions in the U.S. In 2000, NCHS made NHANES datasets publicly available on its website. Since then, a growing number of analysts have taken advantage of this unique opportunity to study major health conditions in the U.S.

 

NHIS (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm): The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is the principal source of information on the health of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States and is one of the major data collection programs of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The National Health Survey Act of 1956 provided for a continuing survey and special studies to secure accurate and current statistical information on the amount, distribution, and effects of illness and disability in the United States and the services rendered for or because of such conditions.

 

NCHS Data Linkage Activities

(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/r&d/nchs_datalinkage/data_linkage_activities.htm): NCHS has developed a record linkage program designed to maximize the scientific value of the Center's population-based surveys. Linked data files enable researchers to examine the factors that influence disability, chronic disease, health care utilization, morbidity, and mortality. NCHS is currently linking various NCHS surveys with death certificate records from the National Death Index (NDI), Medicare enrollment and claims data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Retirement, Survivor, and Disability Insurance (RSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit data from the Social Security Administration (SSA).

 

NHLBI (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/resources/deca/directry.htm): The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has supported data collection from participants in numerous clinical trials and epidemiologic studies. These data from well-characterized population samples constitute an important scientific resource. It is the view of the NHLBI that their full value can only be realized if they are made available, under appropriate terms and conditions consistent with the informed consent provided by individual participants, in a timely manner to the largest possible number of qualified investigators.

 

IHIS (http://www.ihis.us/ihis): The Integrated Health Interview Series (IHIS) is a harmonized set of data and documentation based on material originally included in the public use files of the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and distributed for free over the internet. IHIS currently consists of over 1000 integrated variables selected from more than 2000 variables included in the core survey household and person files for 1969 forward, the sample adult/sample child files for 1997 forward, and the Access to Care supplements for 1993-96. IHIS variables are given consistent codes and have been thoroughly documented to facilitate cross-temporal comparisons.

 

Physical Activity in NHIS (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhis/physicalactivity/physical_activity_homepage.htm): The purpose of this site is to describe the history of NHIS adult physical activity questions and provide tools for identifying, accessing, and using NHIS physical activity data, collected since 1975.

 

USDA National Nutrient Database (http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=8964): This page provides access to Release 20 of the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. You can either view the data here or download the data files and documentation in several different formats for use on your computer. An online search is also provided so you can look up the nutrient content of 7,519 different foods directly from this home page.

 

NVSS (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss.htm): The National Vital Statistics System is the oldest and most successful example of inter-governmental data sharing in Public Health and the shared relationships, standards, and procedures form the mechanism by which NCHS collects and disseminates the Nation's official vital statistics. These data are provided through contracts between NCHS and vital registration systems operated in the various jurisdictions legally responsible for the registration of vital events--births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths. Vital Statistics data are also available on line. In the United States, legal authority for the registration of these events resides individually with the 50 States, 2 cities (Washington, DC, and New York City), and 5 territories (Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). These jurisdictions are responsible for maintaining registries of vital events and for issuing copies of birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates.

 

BRFSS (http://www.cdc.gov/BRFSS/): The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the world’s largest, on-going telephone health survey system, tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States yearly since 1984.  Currently, data are collected monthly in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.

 

NPCR (http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/npcr/datarelease.htm): National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) -Data collected by state cancer registries enable public health professionals to understand and address the cancer burden more effectively. CDC provides support for states to maintain registries that provide high-quality data.

 

NIS (http://www.cdc.gov/nis/): The National Immunization Survey (NIS) is sponsored by the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) and conducted jointly by NCIRD and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NIS is a list-assisted random-digit-dialing telephone survey followed by a mailed survey to children’s immunization providers that began data collection in April 1994 to monitor childhood immunization coverage.

 

HINTS (http://hints.cancer.gov/): HINTS collects nationally representative data routinely about the American public's use of cancer-related information. The survey: Provides updates on changing patterns, needs, and information opportunities in health; Identifies changing communications trends and practices; Assesses cancer information access and usage; Provides information about how cancer risks are perceived; Offers a testbed to researchers to test new theories in health communication.

 

Census (http://www.census.gov/): To provide the best mix of timeliness, relevancy, quality, and cost

for the data we collect and services we provide.

 

DHS (http://www.measuredhs.com/): The DHS program provides assistance with the Demographic and Health Survey, the Service Provision Assessment (SPA) Survey, the HIV/AIDS Indicator Survey (AIS), Malaria Indicators Survey(MIS) and qualitative research.

 

MEPS (http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/): The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a

set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers, and employers across the United States. MEPS is the most complete source of data on the cost and use of health care and health insurance coverage.

 

PRAMS (http://www.cdc.gov/prams/): PRAMS, the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, is a surveillance project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments. PRAMS collects state-specific, population-based data on maternal attitudes and experiences before, during, and shortly after pregnancy.

 

Major health and human survey (http://www.hhs-stat.net/scripts/mhhs.cfm): Welcome to the HHS Data Council Gateway to Data and Statistics. This web-based tool brings together key health and human services data and statistics. It is designed to complement other government resources such as FirstGov and FedStats. The Gateway covers federal, state and local government sponsored information.

 

CGEMS (http://cgems.cancer.gov/): The Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) is a three-year,$14 million initiative that will identify genetic alterations that make people susceptible to prostate and breast cancer. Scientists involved will use DNA available from five large studies of prostate cancer and five large studies of breast cancer to “scan” the genome for common genetic variations between patients who have these cancers and controls who do not have cancer.

 

HapMap (http://www.hapmap.org/): The International HapMap Project is a partnership of scientists and funding agencies from Canada, China, Japan, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States to develop a public resource that will help researchers find genes associated with human disease and response to pharmaceuticals.

 

SNP500 (http://snp500cancer.nci.nih.gov): The goal of the SNP500Cancer project is to resequence 102 reference samples to find known or newly discovered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which are of immediate importance to molecular epidemiology studies in cancer. SNP500Cancer provides a central resource for sequence verification of SNPs

 

SEER program (http://seer.cancer.gov/): National Cancer Institute – Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is an authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States. SEER currently collects and publishes cancer incidence and survival data from population-based cancer registries covering approximately 26 percent of the US population.

HuGE Net: http://www.hugenavigator.net/  HuGE Navigator provides access to a continuously updated knowledge base in human genome epidemiology, including information on population prevalence of genetic variants, gene-disease associations, gene-gene and gene- environment interactions, and evaluation of genetic tests.

SNP database: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/SNP/

State Cancer Profile: http://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/

 

NCI Research Resources: http://resresources.nci.nih.gov/categorydisplay.cfm?catid=666

 

Statistics

Statistic Freeware

R (http://www.r-project.org/): a programming language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. Similar to S or S-plus (will run most S code unchanged). Available for Windows, various Unix flavors (including Linux), NextStep and Mac. Provides a wide variety of statistical (linear and nonlinear modeling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering, ...) and graphical techniques, and is highly extensible. Well-designed publication-quality plots can be produced, including mathematical symbols and formulae where needed.

 

WinBUGS (http://www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/bugs/): The BUGS (Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling) project is concerned with flexible software for the Bayesian analysis of complex statistical models using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods.

 

EPI Info (http://www.cdc.gov/epiinfo/): With Epi Info™ and a personal computer, epidemiologists and other public health and medical professionals can rapidly develop a questionnaire or form, customize the data entry process, and enter and analyze data. Epidemiologic statistics, tables, graphs, and maps are produced with simple commands such as READ, FREQ, LIST, TABLES, GRAPH, and MAP. Epi Map displays geographic maps with data from Epi Info™.

 

PS: Power and Sample Size Calculation (http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/twiki/bin/view/Main/PowerSampleSize): PS is an interactive program for performing power and sample size calculations. It can be used for studies with dichotomous, continuous, or survival response measures. The alternative hypothesis of interest may be specified either in terms of differing response rates, means, or survival times, or in terms of relative risks or odds ratios. Studies with dichotomous or continuous outcomes may involve either a matched or independent study design. The program can determine the sample size needed to detect a specified alternative hypothesis with the required power, the power with which a specific alternative hypothesis can be detected with a given sample size, or the specific alternative hypotheses that can be detected with a given power and sample size.

 

WINPEPI (http://www.brixtonhealth.com/pepi4windows.html): The WINPEPI (PEPI-for-Windows) computer programs for epidemiologists are designed for use in practice and research in the health field and as learning or teaching aids. They aim to complement other statistics packages. The programs are free, and can be downloaded from the Internet.

 

Joinpoint (http://srab.cancer.gov/joinpoint/): Joinpoint is statistical software for the analysis of trends using joinpoint models, that is, models like the figure below where several different lines are connected together at the "joinpoints."

 

RevMan (http://www.cc-ims.net/RevMan): Review Manager (RevMan) is the software used for preparing and maintaining Cochrane reviews. You can use RevMan for protocols and full reviews. It is most useful when you have formulated the question for the review, and allows you to prepare the text, build the tables showing the characteristics of studies and the comparisons in the review, and add study data. It can perform meta-analyses and present the results graphically.

 

PopTools (http://www.cse.csiro.au/poptools/): PopTools is a versatile add-in for PC versions of Microsoft Excel (97, 2000 or XP) that facilitates analysis of matrix population models and simulation of stochastic processes. It was originally written to analyze ecological models, but has much broader application. It has been used for studies of population dynamics, financial modeling, calculation of bootstrap and resampling statistics, and can be used for preparing spreadsheet templates for teaching statistics.  

SAS corner

SAS community: http://www.sascommunity.org/wiki/Main_Page

 

SAS product documentation: http://support.sas.com/documentation/index.html

 

UCLA resources for learning and using SAS: http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/sas/

 

The Missing Semicolon by Systems Seminar Consultants: http://www.sys-seminar.com/publications_tms.php

 

Presentations Available from Systems Seminar Consultants, Inc.: http://www.sys-seminar.com/presentations.php

 

SAS program for the CDC growth charts: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/growthcharts/resources/sas.htm

Literature Search Engine

 

NCBI database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information - all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease.

 

PubMed (http://www.pubmed.gov): PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 18 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources.

 

Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/): Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research.

 

Organizations:

World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/en/

International union against cancer: http://www.uicc.org/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: http://www.ahrq.gov/

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/

National Cancer Institutes: www.cancer.gov

American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org

American Association for Cancer Research: http://www.aacr.org/

American Society for Clinical Oncology: http://www.asco.org/

The American Institute for Cancer Research: http://www.aicr.org/site/PageServer

UNICEF: http://www.unicefusa.org/

US AID: http://www.usaid.gov/

American Public Health Association: http://www.apha.org/

Society for Epidemiology Research: http://www.epiresearch.org/

Cancer Society: http://www.cancersociety.com/

International Gynecologic Cancer Society: http://www.igcs.org/

The Mathematical Association of America: http://www.maa.org/

Gallery of Data Visualization: http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/

APHL: Association of Public Health Laboratories. http://www.aphl.org/Pages/default.aspx

 

Epidemiology

Online Book

 Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5542a5.htm)

 e-Handbook of Statistical Methods (http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/index.htm)

 Stedman’s Online Medical dictionary (http://www.stedmans.com/)

 HyperStat Online (http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/): An introductory statistics textbook and online tutorial for help in statistics courses

 AP Statistics Curriculum 2007 (http://wiki.stat.ucla.edu/socr/index.php/AP_Statistics_Curriculum_2007)

 

Social Research Methods (http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/): This website is for people involved in applied social research and evaluation. You'll find lots of resources and links to other locations on the Web that deal in applied social research methods.

 

CurveFit (http://curvefit.com/): a guideline of nonlinear regression in GraphPad library (http://graphpad.com/index.cfm?cmd=library.index)

 

Online Tutorial/Courses

 NHANES Tutorial (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/tutorials/Nhanes/index.htm): There are four tutorials covering Continuous NHANES and NHANES III, NHANES II, and NHANES I. New users to NHANES data and analyses should start with the Continuous NHANES tutorial as this tutorial is the most complete and covers NHANES Analyses. Analysts who are experienced with NHANES analyses and are interested in prior NHANES data can start with any of the prior NHANES tutorials.

 Emory: http://www.sph.emory.edu/EPICOURSES/abouteia.htm

 Cancer Registry: http://www.sph.emory.edu/GCCS/training/index.html

 Statistics: http://www.statistics.com/

 SAS institute: http://support.sas.com/training/us/

 SUDAAN: http://www.rti.org/sudaan/page.cfm/Training

 ICPSR: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/sumprog/

 Free Education Resource: http://www.free.ed.gov/

 National Even Exercises: http://www.cdc.gov/excite/disease_detectives/national/index.htm

 

Online Journal

 Public Library of Science (http://www.plos.org/journals/index.php)

 

Other Epidemiology Resource:

 University of Pittsburgh: http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/

 Cancer Epidemiology: http://www.cancerindex.org/clinks4e.htm

 UCSF Epi: http://www.epibiostat.ucsf.edu/epidem/epidem.html

 Epidemiology: http://www.epidemiolog.net/

Cancer Epidemiology: http://www.worldoncology.net/epidemiology.htm

 Education database: http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/200-free-online-classes-to-learn-anything

 University of Michigan: http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/epidem03.html

Rice Virtual Lab: http://onlinestatbook.com/rvls.html

PBS teaching sources: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/

NIH Science of Education: http://science-education.nih.gov/home2.nsf/index.htm

BUBL Epidemiology: http://bubl.ac.uk/link/e/epidemiology.htm

 

Career Development and Training Fellowships

Sigma Xi Report: Doctors Without Orders - Highlights of the 2004 Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey of 7600 investigators. Information is available from the May/June issue of American Scientist: http://www.sigmaxi.org/postdoc/highlights.pdf

National Postdoctoral Association - Member-driven organization providing a unique national voice for postdoctoral scholars. The organization provides guidelines, policies and reports. http://www.nationalpostdoc.org

Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition by the U.S. Department of Labor - Nationally recognized source of career information describing what workers do, working conditions, education and training requirements, earnings, and expected job prospects of different types of jobs, such as teacher, lawyer, and nurse. It is revised every two years. http://stats.bls.gov/oco/home.htm

Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)-The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) - A 2-year CDC postgraduate training program of service and on-the-job training in applied epidemiology for health professionals.  http://www.cdc.gov/eis/

The Prevention Effectiveness Fellowship Program (PEFP) - A 2-year CDC postdoctoral fellowship for those who want to gain experience in assessing the effectiveness and economic efficiency of public health interventions. http://www.cdc.gov/epo/fellow.htm

Preventive Medicine Residency & Fellowship (PMR/F) - A 1-year CDC practicum in public health and general preventive medicine for physicians and veterinarians. http://www.cdc.gov/epo/dapht/pmr/pmr.htm

Office of Workforce and Career Development

Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program (PHIPF) -A 2-year applied CDC fellowship for persons with at least a master's degree, training and experience in a health-related profession and information or computer science or technology. http://www.cdc.gov/EPO/PHIFP/

Epidemiology Elective Program for Senior Medical and Veterinary Students -

This program provides medical and veterinary students with an introduction to public health, preventive medicine, and the principles of applied epidemiology, all under the mentorship of experienced CDC epidemiologists. http://www.cdc.gov/EIS/applyeis/elective.htm

The O.C. Hubert Student Fellowship in International Health - A 6–12-week program by the CDC Foundation that provides an opportunity for third- or fourth-year medical and veterinary students to gain public health experience in an international setting. http://www.cdcfoundation.org/fellowships/ochubert/index.aspx

ASM/CCID Program in Infectious Disease and Public Health Microbiology - The goal of ASM/CCID Fellowship is to support the development of new approaches, methodologies and knowledge in infectious disease prevention and control in areas within the public health mission of the CDC. The fellowship allows recent doctoral graduates (within three years) to perform two-year research at the Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases (CCID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. http://www.asm.org/Education/index.asp?bid=15497

APHL/CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory Fellowships -Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Laboratory Fellowship Program, sponsored by APHL and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prepares scientists for careers in public health laboratories and supports public health initiatives involving infectious disease research. The EID Advanced Laboratory Training Fellowship is a one-year program designed for bachelor’s or master’s level scientists, with emphasis on the practical application of technologies, methodologies and practices related to emerging infectious diseases. The EID Laboratory Research Fellowship is a two-year program designed for doctoral-level scientists to conduct high-priority research in infectious diseases. http://www.aphl.org/profdev/fellowships/eid/Pages/default.aspx

Scientific Writing and Ethics

 

On Being a Scientist by The National Academies Press: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12192

Ethical Issues in Research Involving Human Participants by the National Library of Medicine: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/archive//20061214/pubs/cbm/hum_exp.html

Guidelines for Responsible Conduct of Research by the University of Pittsburgh

http://www.pitt.edu/~provost/ethresearch.html

 

DHHS Policies on Research Misconduct: http://ori.dhhs.gov/documents/42_cfr_parts_50_and_93_2005.pdf

ISI Web of Knowledge -Quickly find, analyze, and manage information in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, and citation numbers of your scientific papers. http://apps.isiknowledge.com/

How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 6th Edition by Robert A. Day and Barbara Gastel.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Publish-Scientific-Paper/dp/0313330409

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. – Classic book on simple and correct English writing. http://www.bartleby.com/141/

Style guide by the Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal – Very simple guide on correct usage of English in scientific writing. The Table of Contents is at the end of the pdf file. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/style_guide.pdf

Local Resources