Introduction to Research in Lifestyle Medicine

The goal of this course is to develop an understanding of scientific research methods through the lens of lifestyle medicine. This course will teach a variety of techniques for exploring the pillars of lifestyle medicine (nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, social connection, cognitive enhancement, and gratitude & purpose). Course topics include research design, critical appraisal, introduction to biostatistics, systematic review, and meta analysis. Upon completion of the course students will be able to: Describe the pillars of lifestyle medicine; Understand how to use online database resources; Define different health research methods and identify strengths/weaknesses for use; Be able to choose a research design and write a research question; Evaluate different biostatistical methods and be able to apply analytical methods to real data. Scheduling note: for the first 5 weeks we meet live *once a week;* for the second 5 weeks of the course we meet live *twice a week* and our time together will be focused on your class capstone project.