Causal Analysis in Theory and Practice

June: The Mathematical Sciences in Obesity Research The mathematical sciences including engineering, statistics, computer science, physics, econometrics, psychometrics, epidemiology, and mathematics qua mathematics are increasingly being applied to advance our understanding of the causes, consequences, and alleviation of obesity. These applications do not merely involve routine well-established approaches easily implemented in widely available commercial software. Rather, they increasingly involve computationally demanding tasks, use and in some cases development of novel analytic methods and software, new derivations, computer simulations, and unprecedented interdigitation of two or more existing techniques. Such advances at the interface of the mathematical sciences and obesity research require bilateral training and exposure for investigators in both disciplines. July: Strengthening Causal Inference in Behavioral Obesity Research Identifying causal relations among variables is fundamental to science. 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 intervention and prevention strategies. In addition, developing a greater understanding of obesity’s causes, requires input from diverse disciplines including statistics, economics, psychology, epidemiology, mathematics, philosophy, and in some cases behavioral or statistical genetics. However, applying techniques from these disciplines does not involve routine well-known ‘cookbook’ approaches but requires an understanding of the underlying principles, so the investigator can tailor approaches to specific and varying situations. For full details of each of the courses, please refer to our websites below: Mon 6/13/2016 – Fri 6/17/2016: The Mathematical Sciences in Obesity, http://www.soph.uab.edu/energetics/shortcourse/third Mon 7/25/2016 – Fri 7/29/2016: Strengthening Causal Inference in Behavioral Obesity Research, http://www.soph.uab.edu/energetics/causal_inference_shortcourse/second Limited travel scholarships are available to young investigators. Please apply by Fri 4/1/2016 and be notified of acceptance by Fri 4/8/2016. Women, members of underrepresented minority groups and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. We look forward to seeing you in Birmingham this summer!