Molecular epidemiology

The course provides an introduction to key concepts, methods, and applications within molecular epidemiology. Modern medical research often relies on analyses of large‑scale molecular data, an area that requires specialized statistical approaches. The course gives an overview of the fundamentals of cell biology with a focus on DNA, RNA, and protein expression, which are necessary for analyzing and interpreting results. The course presents examples of the connections between genotype, protein, and phenotype, as well as the various roles of proteins in cellular functions. It focuses on how genetic analyses such as genome‑wide association studies (GWAS) and Mendelian randomization (MR) can be used as tools for epidemiological research and causal inference. Furthermore, the course covers biomarkers and large‑scale analyses of molecular data (omics).