Requirements

The Certificate in Public Health Genetics entails a minimum of 11 credits of coursework focusing on the genetic basis of disease, methods of genetic analysis, genetic applications, as well as ethical, legal, and social issues. Students must receive a B- or better in each course, and a passing mark (e.g., S or P) in each ungraded course.

Please search courses within Wolverine Access and Atlas for the most up-to-date course information.

IMPORTANT! Some students have difficulty fitting the course requirements into their schedule, particularly in Content Area 2. If this is the case for you, please reach out to the Director, smjenn@umich.edu, as soon as possible to discuss potential alternatives for fulfilling the requirements

Requirements

1. One or two of the following courses [in Content Area 1]*:

Content Area 1: Genetic Basis of Disease

• EPID 511 Introduction to Public Health Genetics (Fall, 3 credits)
  *Preferred option for students who are new to public health genetics
• EPID 515 Genetics in Public Health (Fall, 3 credits)
  *Preferred option for students who have taken at least one undergraduate genetics course
• HUMGEN 545 Molecular, Cellular, and Organismal Genetics (Fall, 3 credits) 
• HUMGEN 546 Genetics in Human Biology and Disease (Winter, 4 credits)

2. One or two of the following courses [in Content Area 2]:

Content Area 2: Ethical, Legal and Social Issues

• HBHEQ 669 Genetics, Health Behavior and Health Equity (Winter, 3 credits)
• HMP 630 / BA 518 /BIOMEDE 523 Business of Biology [Not offered 2025-2026, Fall, 2.25 credits]

3. One or two of the following courses [in Content Area 3 and/or 4]:

Content Area 3: Methods/Measurement/Analysis

• EPID 516 Genomics in Epidemiology (Winter, 4 credits)
• BIOSTAT 666 Statistical Models and Numerical Methods in Human Genetics (Winter, 3 credits)
• BIOSTAT 646 High Throughput Molecular Genetic and Epigenetic Data Analysis (Winter, 3 credits)
• BIOSTAT 665 Statistical Population Genetics [Not offered 2024-2025, Winter, 3 credits]
• BIOSTAT 866 Advanced Topics In Genetic Modeling (Winter, 3 credits)
• HUMGEN 551 Computational Genomics (Winter, 3 credits)

Content Area 4: Applications

• EHS 660/NUTR 660 Environmental Epigenetics and Public Health (Winter, 2 credits)
• EPID 621 Cancer Epidemiology (Winter, 3 credits)
• EPID 582 Molecular Epidemiology (Winter, 3 credits)
• NUTR 610 Evolutionary Nutrition (Fall, 2 credits)
• Independent research taken for course credit (e.g., EPID 604, EPID 565)(Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer, 1-6 credits)
  *Must have sufficient focus on genetics components. Pre-approval required: please e-mail sph.registrar@umich.edu for pre-approval request. Please include the following: Description of the independent study, faculty advisor name and e-mail, and an explanation of how the independent study relates to the broader goals of the Public Health Genetics Certificate.