Strengthening Causal Inference in Behavioral Obesity Research
Dates: Monday May 12th through Friday May 16th, 2025
Format: In person at University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham AL).
Overview:
Identifying causal relations is fundamental to understanding which social and behavioral factors cause variations in obesity, which is a field of both intervention and prevention. Discussions of causation are often limited to a dichotomy of ordinary association tests versus randomized controlled trials, yet there are many other considerations and techniques available to advance causal understanding of obesity. Effectively employing techniques to produce, evaluate, and select among intervention and prevention strategies, as well as to understanding obesity's root causes, requires understanding of underlying principles to tailor approaches to specific and varying situations. Advances in behavioral obesity research require input from disciplines including statistics, economics, psychology, epidemiology, mathematics, philosophy, behavior, genetics, and more. This course includes five days of interactive sessions and engaging speakers to provide 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.
Objectives:
- To expose participants to methodologic instruction on techniques and case applications to advance understanding in causal inference in behavioral obesity research.
- To provide interactive discussions among participants and experts.
- To facilitate collaborations among scientists and methodologists working on obesity from different disciplines for informing judgments about causation to facilitate the most productive and informative work possible in the obesity field.
Target audience:
Advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career scientists with interest in behavior-oriented obesity research. Women, individuals from underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Registration:
Check back soon for registration! To receive a notification when registration is live, please email Cynthia Herrera Alley at cherrera@iu.edu.
Contact:
For questions, please contact Cynthia Herrera Alley at cherrera@iu.edu.
Sponsor:
NIH Disclaimer:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institutes of Health under Grant No. (R25HL124208). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health.