The Department of Epidemiology (DEP) in Rome is a 30 year old institution within the National Health Service of the Lazio Region. The mission of the Department is to perform high quality epidemiological research in the field of environmental epidemiology, comparative effectiveness, and outcome research. The aim is to provide the best available evidence to inform public health policy makers in order to reduce the effects of environmental exposures and improve health care quality. Partnerships with clinicians and regional or national institutions are necessary components of our activity together with the development of educational programmes in epidemiology.

The two main fields of research within the DEP are:

• Environmental and occupational epidemiology
• Comparative effectiveness and outcome research

Cross-sectional activities carried out in all research areas include:

• Epidemiology of health inequalities
• Health information systems (HIS) for epidemiological studies