| Session | Speaker Affiliation |
Day 1 - Mon 7/29/2019 | ||
7:45 - 8:15 | Registration and Light Breakfast | |
| 8:15 - 8:45 | Welcoming & Introductory remarks | David Allison, Indiana University and Kevin Fontaine, University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| 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.) | Evan Mayo-Wilson, Indiana University |
| 9:45 - 10:00 | BREAK | |
| 10:00 - 10:45 | Intro to Energy Balance and Laws of Thermodynamics | Greg Demas, Indiana University |
| 10:45 - 11:30 | Study Designs & Quantifying Effect and Association Size | Keith Haddock, HOPE Health |
| 11:45 - 12:30 | LUNCH (Included) | |
| 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, DLW Consulting |
| 1:15 - 1:45 | Advantages | Yiqing Song, IUPUI |
| 1:45 - 2:00 | BREAK | |
| 2:00 - 2:30 | Limits I – Theory: Bias and Confounding | Dominik Alexander, Meta Method Health |
| 2:30 - 3:00 | Limits II – Empirical: Evidence & Case Studies of Confirmation and Non-Confirmation of Observational Study- Generated Hypotheses | Andrew Brown, Indiana University |
| 3:00 - 4:00 | Interactive Activity - Causal inference in the published literature. | |
| 4:00 - 5:00 | Moderated Discussion and Wrap-up | |
| 6:30 | Dinner – Short Course meet & greet (optional) | |
Day 2 - Tue 7/30/2019 | ||
| 8:00 - 9:00 | Light Breakfast | |
| Module 3: Randomized Controlled Experiments – I | ||
| 9:00 - 9:20 | Theory: Potential Outcomes | David Allison, Indiana University |
| 9:20 - 10:00 | Methods for Randomization (including cluster randomization, stratified, choice of allocation ratios, adaptive, etc.) | Scarlett Bellamy, Drexel University |
| 10:00 - 10:45 | Power & Sample Size Calculation | Michael Oakes, University of Minnesota |
| 10:45 - 11:00 | BREAK | |
| 11:00 - 11:30 | Choice of Control Condition based on Hypothesis and Anticipated Claims | Kevin Fontaine, University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| 11:30 - 12:00 | Controlling for Expectancy and Non-Specific Effects | Jack Raglin, Indiana University |
| 12:15 - 1:00 | LUNCH (Included) | |
| Module 4: Randomized Controlled Experiments – II | ||
| 1:00 - 1:45 | Interactive Activity | |
| 1:45 - 2:30 | Practical Challenges: Measurement Error, Missing Data, Assumption Violations, etc. | Carmen Tekwe, Indiana University |
| 2:30 - 2:45 | BREAK | |
| 2:45 - 3:30 | Ethical Issues in RCEs | Theodore Kyle, ConscienHealth |
| 3:30 - 4:15 | Procedural Elements: Trial Registration, Reporting Guidelines | Samuel Field, Center for Open Science |
| 4:15 - 4:45 | Large Simple Trials & Cluster Randomized Trials | Michael Oakes, University of Minnesota |
| 4:45 - 5:45 | Moderated Discussion and Wrap-up | |
Day 3 - Wed 7/31/2019 | ||
| 8:00 - 9:00 | Light Breakfast | |
| Module 5: Quasi Experiments | ||
| 9:00 - 9:45 | Importance in Evaluating Changes That Occur | Coady Wing, Indiana University |
| 9:45 - 10:30 | Design & Analysis | Coady Wing, Indiana University |
| 10:30 - 10:45 | BREAK | |
| 10:45 - 11:20 | Ethical Issues | Greg Pavela, University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| 11:20 - 12:00 | Quasi-experiments – Real World Case Studies | Nir Menachemi, Indiana University |
| 12:15 - 1:00 | LUNCH (Included) | |
| Module 6: Natural Experiments | ||
| 1:00 - 1:45 | The Role of Natural Experiments in Public Health Decision Making | Christina Ludema, Indiana University |
| 1:45 - 2:15 | Interactive Activity | |
| 2:15 - 3:00 | Study Design and Practical Applications of Natural Experiments in Public Health | David Redden, University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| 3:00 - 3:45 | Analysis | Bisakha Sen, University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| 3:45 - 4:00 | BREAK | |
| 4:00 - 4:45 | Packet Randomized Experiments: Adoption Example | Greg Pavela, University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| 4:45 - 5:45 | Moderated Discussion and Wrap-up | |
Day 4 - Thu 8/1/2019 | ||
| 8:00 - 9:00 | Light Breakfast | |
| Module 7: Genetically Informed Designs – Unmeasured Genotype Approaches | ||
| 9:00 - 9:45 | Co-Twin and Sibling Control Designs | Matt McGue, University of Minnesota |
| 9:45 - 10:30 | Structural Equation Modeling of Twin and Family Data to Assess Causal Effects. | Michael Neale, Virginia of Commonwealth University |
| 10:30 - 10:45 | BREAK | |
| 10:45 - 11:30 | Ethical Considerations: Studying Behavioral Phenotypes in Weight-Discordant Siblings | Tanja Kral, University of Pennsylvania |
| 11:45 - 12:30 | LUNCH (Included) | |
| Module 8: Genetically Informed Designs – Measured Genotype Approaches | ||
| 12:30 - 1:15 | Causal Inference from Mendelian Randomization | Kaitlin Wade, University of Bristol |
| 1:15 - 2:15 | Interactive Activity – Prepare for Friday roundtable | |
| 2:15 - 3:00 | Methodological issues in Testing for Gene by Environment or Gene by Behavior Interaction | Ruth Loos, School of Medicine at Mount Sinai |
| 3:00 - 3:15 | BREAK | |
| 3:15 - 4:00 | Social, behavioral, and ethical issues | Jody Madeira, Indiana University |
| 4:00 - 4:45 | Real World Case Studies - Causal Inference and Counterfactuals in Obesity Research: Obesity and the Gut Microbiome. | Lee Kaplan, Harvard University |
| 4:45 - 5:45 | Moderated Discussion and Wrap-up | |
| 6:30 | Dinner – Short Course meet & greet (optional) | |
Day 5 - Fri 8/2/2019 | ||
| 8:00 - 9:00 | Light Breakfast | |
| 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) | David Redden, University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| 9:45 - 10:30 | Testing in General Linear Models | Amanda Fairchild, University of South Carolina |
| 10:30 - 10:45 | BREAK | |
| 10:45 - 11:30 | Testing in Structural Equation Models | Michael Neale, Virginia of Commonwealth University |
| 11:30 - 12:00 | Real Life Examples & Ethical Issues | Amanda Fairchild, University of South Carolina |
| 12:15 - 1:00 | LUNCH (Included) | |
| Module 10: Group Roundtable Preparation, Presentation & Discussion | ||
| 1:00 - 3:00 | Interactive Activity – Prepare for discussions | |
| 3:00 - 5:00 | Interactive Activity – Discussions of examples of causal statements in the published literature | |
| 5:00 - 5:10 | Closing Remarks | |
