The plan for an epidemiology program reflects in part a May vote by representatives of member nations to give the agency a stronger hand in investigating outbreaks.

Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, the centers' director, said her agency "would look forward to collaborating with the World Health Organization to expand" its epidemiology program.

Dr. Deborah Winn, head of the extramural epidemiology program at the National Cancer Institute, said: "I don't think it is reflective of any reality.

Nana Keum is currently attending Harvard School of Public Health where she is a graduate student in the nutritional epidemiology doctoral program.

Dr. Matthew L. Cartter, coordinator of the State Public Health Department's epidemiology program, said successful prevention work can eradicate all the debate.

He also called for international epidemiology programs patterned after one at the Centers for Disease Control.

The agency most likely to take over management of the epidemiology program is the Department of Health and Human Services, members of the panel said.

She always sought a balance between policy and research, describing as a professional highlight her role as founding director of the master of applied epidemiology programme at the Australian National University.

A good epidemiology program might identify the Sydney Olympics as the focal center, but tens of thousands people would have come and gone.

Dr. Fraser said medical schools generally include "a body of information about public health" in their epidemiology programs to prepare students to become public health workers.