In spite of its successful track record, epidemiology has become the focus of controversy concerning its usefulness and limitations to identify relevant public health hazards, such as causes of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic ailments. The public visibility of epidemiologic findings and the lack of a coherent picture concerning newly identified risk factors have greatly fueled the debate on whether epidemiology has reached its limits in providing reliable information for preventive strategies.

We believe epidemiology is far from having reached its limits; the plethora of new methods that have emerged in recent years has greatly expanded the scope and utility of epidemiology. Novel study designs and statistical methods are available that can serve epidemiologists in probing complex etiologic relations as well as verifying the efficacy of new preventive technologies. The emergence of new interfaces with molecular genetics and social epidemiology has greatly expanded the purview of the discipline.

The IEA has undertaken the organization of a series of presentations that are intended to bring to the epidemiology community:

• an overview of the latest developments in methods and revisit well established approaches
• discussion of the limitations and caveats in the theory and practice of epidemiologic methods.

The invited speakers are among the most influential contributors of statistical methodology and experienced epidemiologists who have shaped our substantive knowledge about disease causation and exposure assessment.

As the most inclusive of all international epidemiological societies, the IEA will sponsor this and other courses to provide epidemiologists and public health professionals an opportunity to become acquainted with the advances in epidemiologic methods that can enhance the role of epidemiology in clinical medicine and public health.