The mission of the Epidemiology Division is primarily to perform research into the distribution, risk factors and pathophysiologic mechanisms of human diseases and to apply epidemiologic knowledge in preventing them.

Under the leadership of Dr. Robert Haley since its founding in 1983, the Division has focused on three disease categories: diseases of the nervous system (neuroepidemiology), infectious diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.

 Research into the nervous system problems underlying illness in veterans of the 1991 Gulf War has led into extensive activities in brain scanning and laboratory investigations of neural mechanisms and genetic correlates, requiring specialized core facilities supporting these activities.

Research in infectious disease epidemiology originally focused on hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections and has moved into developing responses to bioterrorist attacks and applying them at the local level through leadership in the Dallas County Medical Society.

Research in cardiovascular epidemiology has involved supporting the Cardiology Division in designing and implementing the Dallas Heart Study.