EPIET - European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training





		Epicentre Contact details Phillippe Guérin Scientific Director Epicentre 8 rue St Sabin 75011 Paris, France Tel +33 1 40 21 28 48 Description of institute Epicentre, a non-profit organisation, was created in 1987, and has been a WHO Collaborating Centre for Epidemiological Research and Emerging Disease Response since 1996. The Epicentre headquarters are in the Paris office, but there are also offices, Geneva and Brussels, and a field base in Mbarara, Uganda with a staff of 50 and a research base in Niger with a staff of 20, both including epidemiologists, clinical researchers, statisticians and data managers. At Epicentre, research projects, epidemiological surveys and outbreak investigations are conducted in developing countries. Epicentre also designs and organises regular training sessions in public health and epidemiology in Europe, as well as in the field (on request). Epicentre has developed strong expertise in the development of software applications for health information management (e.g. EPITRYPS and FUCHIA for the monitoring of trypanosomiasis and HIV/AIDS programmes, respectively). Most research projects and consultations are in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Training site The EPIET training site is located in the Epicentre Paris office (which has a staff of 26, including 15 epidemiologists and 3 statistician), which is responsible for: Field epidemiology surveys (often in a humanitarian context) and outbreak investigation in developing countries: Evaluation of health priorities in an emergency (rapid assessment) Implementation and evaluation of epidemiological surveillance systems Evaluation of health programmes and health needs Prevalence surveys WHO Global outbreak alert and response network (GOARN) partner (Epicentre is a WHO collaborating centre, and member of the GOARN Steering Committee, providing support to countries during outbreaks) Epidemiological research projects in the field (such as clinical trials, cohort and case-control studies, evaluations of diagnostic tests). Current research areas include: Tropical infectious diseases Epidemiology of disasters and complex emergencies Nutrition Psychological trauma Training activities for health professionals through regular sessions in field epidemiology and public health (including epidemic response and rapid assessment of vulnerable populations in complex emergencies) Training opportunities The training site offers many opportunities in the field of epidemiology and control of epidemic-prone diseases in resource-poor countries. The large number of consultancies requested every year provides a good opportunity for gaining experience in outbreak investigation and rapid response to emergencies. For example, in 2004-5, among other consultations, members of the epidemiology team at Epicentre: carried out nutritional, vaccine coverage, mortality and sexual health and access to healthcare surveys in Thailand, Timor-Leste, Burundi, Sudan, Ethiopia and Darfur evaluated malaria surveillance in South Sudan evaluated HIV rapid diagnostic screening tests conducted a rapid health assessment of displaced persons in Uganda investigated outbreaks of measles in Niger, Hepatitis E in Darfur and meningitis in Chad investigated abnormal deaths in South Sudan assisted with communicable disease surveillance and response after the tsunami in Indonesia In addition, several large research studies on the treatment and control of trypanosomiasis, malaria and trachoma were conducted in Republic of Congo, Mali and Sierra Leone, among others. Training supervision The overall supervision will be provided by Philippe Guérin (EPIET alumnus), in collaboration with other senior Epicentre epidemiologists Language requirements French and English Training history Number of EPIET Fellows trained at institute: one (2005-2006) Number of alumni working at institute: Three Available as a training site for cohort 13: yes
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