Second Short Course on Strengthening Causal Inference in Behavioral Obesity Research

Overview

The identification of causal relations is fundamental to a science of intervention and prevention. Obesity is a major problem for which much progress in understanding, treatment, and prevention remains to be made. Understanding which social and behavioral factors cause variations in adiposity and which other factors cause variations is vital to producing, evaluating, and selecting among intervention and prevention strategies as well as to understanding obesity’s root causes, requiring input from disciplines including statistics, economics, psychology, epidemiology, mathematics, philosophy, and in some cases behavioral or statistical genetics. The application of these techniques, however, does not involve routine well-known ‘cookbook’ approaches but requires understanding of underlying principles, so the investigator can tailor approaches to specific and varying situations. The nine course modules provide rigorous exposure to the key fundamental principles underlying a broad array of techniques and experience in applying those principles and techniques through guided discussion of real examples in obesity research.

Schedule of Events: [PDF file]

Mon 7/25/2016
8:00-8:15	Registration
8:15- 8:45	Welcoming & Introductory remarks	Allison & Fontaine
8:45- 9:00	Attendee introductions
Module 1: Introduction to Basic Language, Terms, and Concepts in Statistics and Design.
9:00-9:45	Intro to Statistical Inference (mainly frequentist, with a little Bayesian; covariate and propensity score adjustment, etc.)	David Redden
9:45-10:00	BREAK
10:00-10:45	Intro to Energy Balance and Laws of Thermodynamics	Diana Thomas
10:45-11:30	Study Designs & Quantifying Effect and Association Size	Christopher Haddock
11:30-12:30	LUNCH
Module 2: Conventional Observational Studies: Advantages, Limits, and Best Practices
12:30-1:15	Best Practices – Ethical Use, Hill’s Guidelines, Negative Controls, Meta-Analysis, Public Data Availability, etc.	Douglas Weed
1:15-1:45	Advantages	Emily Levitan
1:45-2:15	Limits I – Theory: Bias and Confounding	Dominick Alexander
2:15- 2:30	BREAK
2:30-3:30	Interactive Activity - Causal inference on BMI change and mortality in humans.	Tapan Mehta & Hailey Banack
3:30-4:00	Limits II – Empirical: Evidence & Cases Studies of Confirmation and Non-Confirmation of Observational Study- Generated Hypotheses	Andrew Brown
4:00-5:00	Moderated Discussion and Wrap-up
6:30	Dinner – Short Course meet & greet (voluntary)
Tue 7/26/2016
Module 3: Randomized Controlled Experiments – I
9:00-9:10	Theory: Potential Outcomes	David B Allison
9:10-10:00	Methods for Randomization (including cluster randomization, stratified, choice of allocation ratios, adaptive, etc.)	Scarlett Bellamy
10:00-10:45	Power & Sample Size Calculation	Charity Morgan
10:45-11:15	Choice of Control Condition based on Hypothesis and Anticipated Claims	Kevin Fontaine
11:15-11:30	BREAK
11:30-12:00	Controlling for Expectancy and Non-Specific Effects	Adam Leventhal
12:00-1:00	LUNCH
Module 4: Randomized Controlled Experiments – II
1:00-1:45	Interactive Activity Mini-Debates: “ITT vs On Study” and “Replication crisis vs Not”	Gary Cutter
		George Howard
1:45-2:30	Practical Challenges: Measurement Error, Missing Data, Assumption Violations, etc.	Diane Catellier
2:30-2:45	BREAK
2:45-3:45	Ethical Issues in RCEs	Theodore K. Kyle
3:45-4:15	Procedural Elements: Trial Registration, Reporting Guidelines	Andrew Brown
4:15-4:45	Large Simple Trials & Cluster Randomized Trials	J Michael Oakes
4:45-5:30	Moderated Discussion and Wrap-up
6:30	Dinner – Short Course meet & greet (voluntary)
Wed 7/27/2016
Module 5: Quasi Experiments
9:00- 9:15	Quasi-experiments – Their Importance in Evaluating Changes That Occur	Matthew Maciejewski
9:15- 10:35	Design & Analysis	Matthew Maciejewski
10:35-10:50	BREAK
10:40-11:15	Ethical Issues	Greg Pavela
11:15-12:00	Real World Case Studies	Nir Menachemi
12:00-1:00	LUNCH
Module 6: Natural Experiments
1:00-1:45	Theory & Concepts	Ed Gregg
1:45-2:15	Interactive Activity – Pavela, Fontaine, Goldsby	David Allison moderator
2:15-3:00	Packet Randomized Experiments:  Adoption Example	Greg Pavela
3:00-3:45	Analysis	Bisakha Sen
3:45-4:00	BREAK
4:00-4:45	Practical and Ethical Issues in Accessing Natural Randomization	Ed Gregg
4:45-5:30	Moderated Discussion and Wrap-up
6:30	Dinner – Short Course meet & greet (voluntary)
Thu 7/28/2016
Module 7: Genetically Informed Designs – Unmeasured Genotype Approaches
9:00-9:45	Co-Twin and Sibling Control Designs	Matt McGue
9:45-10:45	Structural Equation Modeling of Twin and Family Data to Assess Causal Effects.	Michael Neale
10:45-11:00	BREAK
11:00-11:45	Study of Behavioral Phenotypes of Obesity in Children: Ethical Considerations	Tanja Kral
11:45-1:00	LUNCH
Module 8: Genetically Informed Designs – Measured Genotype Approaches
1:00-1:30	Linkage and TDT Methods: Special Cases of Packet Randomization and Utility in Testing Fetal Sire Effects	David Allison
1:30-2:30	Interactive Activity – prepare for Friday roundtable	David Allison & Kevin Fontaine
2:30-3:15	Methodological issues in Testing for Gene by Environment or Gene by Behavior Interaction	Ruth Loos PhD
3:15-3:30	BREAK
3:30-4:15	Social, behavioral, and ethical issues	Diane Tucker
4:15-4:45	Real World Case Studies - Causal Inference and Counterfactuals in Obesity Research: Obesity and the Gut Microbiome.	Andrew Heath
4:45-5:30	Moderated Discussion and Wrap-up
6:30	Dinner – Short Course meet & greet (voluntary)
Fri 7/29/2016
Module 9: Mediating and Moderating Variables
9:00-9:45	Conceptual Models (the mediator moderator distinction, environmental, behavioral, psychological, physiological, and molecular mediators and moderators)	Francesca Filbey
9:45-10:30	Testing in General Linear Models	Amanda Fairchild
10:30-10:45	BREAK
10:45-11:30	Testing in Structural Equation Models	Michael Neale
11:30-12:00	Real Life Examples & Ethical Issues	Amanda Fairchild
12:00-1:00	LUNCH
Module 10: Group Roundtable Preparation, Presentation & Discussion
1:00 - 3:00	Group Roundtable Preparation
3:00-5:00	5 Roundtable Groups Presentations (10 minutes each) Followed by Discussion
5:00-5:10	Closing Remarks	David Allison & Kevin Fontaine

Contact Information:

Logistics: Richard Sarver
UAB SOPH Dean's office
Office of Energetics & Nutrition Obesity Research Center
1700 University Boulevard, LHL 434
Birmingham AL 35294-0013
Phone: (205) 975-9169
Email: rsarver@uab.edu