Is epidemiology correcting its vision problem? A perspective on our perspective: 2012 presidential address for American College of Epidemiology

Epidemiology, like all disciplines, exists within and is shaped by a culture that frames its ways of understanding. In the last 60 years epidemiology as a discipline and scientific approach has undergone major transition, but remains challenged by vestiges of the limiting frameworks of our origins which shape the way we approach questions, and even the questions we choose to investigate. A part of the current transformation is a reframing of our perspective and a broadening of our methods to encourage creativity and to encompass new types of evidence and new approaches to investigation and interpretation. Epidemiologists are developing innovative ways to approach increasingly complex problems and becoming more open to multi-disciplinary approaches to solving epidemiologic challenges.