The Graduate Program in Epidemiology (PPG-DEpi) at School of Public Health (FSP), University of São Paulo (USP), started in 2014 as a PhD program aiming at forming faculty members and researchers with leadership and innovation capacity in the field of epidemiology, which should revert in beneficial impact at the public health level. In its accreditation, it was granted grade 5 by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel).