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Causal Mediation Analysis - Online Course

A 4-Week On-Demand Seminar Taught by

Tyler VanderWeele and Linda Valeri ,
Course Dates: Ask about upcoming dates
Schedule:

Each Monday you will receive an email with instructions for the following week.

All course materials are available 24 hours a day. Materials will be accessible for an additional 2 weeks after the official close on June 10.

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Causal mediation analysis offers a sophisticated method to understand the mechanisms through which an intervention or treatment exerts its effects on an outcome. This type of analysis is crucial for identifying the indirect effects mediated through specific variables, allowing researchers to dissect the causal pathways and potentially target these mechanisms more effectively in future interventions.

Causal mediation analysis extends beyond conventional mediation analysis by providing a framework to evaluate potential causal roles of mediators. It enables researchers to estimate both direct effects of a treatment or exposure on an outcome and indirect effects that operate through one or more mediators. This is particularly important in fields like public health, education, and social sciences, where understanding the underlying processes can lead to more effective interventions and policies.

This seminar will focus on some of the recent developments in causal mediation analysis and will provide practical tools to implement those techniques. The course will discuss the relationship between traditional methods for mediation in the biomedical and social sciences and new methods of causal inference for dichotomous, continuous, and time-to-event outcomes.

The course takes place online in a series of four weekly installments of videos, quizzes, readings, and exercises, and requires about 8 hours/week. You may participate at your own convenience; there are no set times when you are required to be online.

This four-week course can be accessed with any recent web browser on almost any platform, including iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. It consists of several modules, which contain videos of the 4-day livestream version of the course in its entirety. Each module is followed by a short multiple-choice quiz to test your knowledge. There are also weekly exercises that ask you to apply what you’ve learned to a real data set.

There is also an online discussion forum where participants can post questions or comments about any aspect of the course. All questions will be promptly answered by Dr. Valeri.

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“Dr. VanderWeele is skilled at explaining statistical concepts very clearly."

“Dr. VanderWeele’s lectures were great. He is skilled at explaining statistical concepts very clearly. The course was also well organized, with useful references, quizzes, and (completely manageable) homework reinforcing the concepts covered in the lectures.”

Melissa Poulsen

Geisinger

“The amount of detail in the process and the tailored readings were great!"

“The amount of detail in the process and the tailored readings were great! The platform was very easy to use and it was clear what was needed each week.”

Emily Lowthian

Swansea University

"Highly recommended for epidemiologists and biostatisticians..."

“The course, besides covering CMA in detail, touches upon other relevant topics such as robustness of results against unmeasured confounding, surrogate endpoints, etc. which were a mind-opener. Highly recommended for epidemiologists and biostatisticians who are interested in understanding causal mechanisms from real-world data.”

Alessandro Cozzi-Lepri

University College London

“For everyone who wanted to understand causal mediation but never thought they could, this course is essential!”

“Professor VanderWeele clearly explains methods he has pioneered for consistently estimating causal effects in mediation. Although the course primarily focuses on health applications, causal mediation has wide-ranging applications in the social sciences. All social scientists should understand causal mediation.  Importantly, Professor VanderWeele explains how to perform sensitivity analyses, which arguably every researcher interested in mediation should be able to achieve. For everyone who wanted to understand causal mediation but never thought they could, this course is essential!”

Joseph Bulbulia

Victoria University of Wellington

“This course was led by 2 of the most respected leaders in the topic.”

“This course was led by 2 of the most respected leaders in the topic.”

Cody Arnold

Stanford University

"Comprehensive and clear explanation of the field..."

“Comprehensive and clear explanation of the field of explanation (mediation) in causal inference. Also, great contextualization of the methods covered.”

Paul Agius

Burnet Institute

“The course was well-taught."

“The course was well-taught. I appreciated being provided the slides to take notes on and the exercises and short quizzes helped to solidify the material.”

Laura Stilwell

Duke University

"I learned a ton and am looking forward to applying it!”

“The course was full of really great information. It was well-organized and the instruction was very good. I also appreciated the quizzes, exercises, etc. I learned a ton and am looking forward to applying it!”

Ilana Umansky

University of Oregon

“I enjoyed the clarity of the presentations and how the content was designed for practical usage."

“I enjoyed the clarity of the presentations and how the content was designed for practical usage. Professor VanderWeele’s engagement with questions was also most appreciated.”

 

Yuji Hashimoto

University of Lausanne

“I thought that the tutor was brilliant."

“I thought that the tutor was brilliant. The schedule and slides were also excellent.”

Panagiotis Ferentinos

University of Athens