Develop and expand capacity with current and emerging methods for quantifying risks
Evaluate exposure assessment protocols
Differentiate between key assumptions and uncertainties in non-cancer and cancer dose-response models
Understand probabilistic methods in uncertainty analysis and risk assessment
Identify key factors that influence risk perception and communication
Evaluate alternative approaches for valuation of environmental health risk outcomes
Risk analysis is a scientific tool designed to help us determine the existence and extent of threats to human health, provide information about how best to manage these risks, and improve our ability to communicate with the public about the proper response to these hazards.
This online course explores the principles of risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication, ensuring you can identify, explain, and make decisions about risks to public health. You will learn how risk analysis is done, how it is interpreted, how it influences regulatory decision-making, and the role it plays in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This program will also provide you with the knowledge and skills to analyze how environmental hazards impact human health.
Top Harvard faculty will use case studies, lectures, and small-group work to explore such topics as hazard identification, epidemiology and toxicology in risk analysis, risk perception, risk communication, and the interplay of risk management and the law. You will gain the skills needed to:
During this program, you will explore the legal and policy framework which will inform the direction of risk analysis in upcoming years, gain the skills needed to perform a quantitative risk assessment, discuss key factors influencing the effectiveness of risk assessment and management, and apply these concepts in local, state, federal, or international settings. After completing the course, you will be able to determine whether hazards pose an unacceptable risk to public health, communicate effectively about health risks, and utilize risk analysis to improve decision-making.
