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Doctoral course: “Design and analysis of twin and family based studies” (1.5 credits) Dates November 9-13, 2015 (full days) Venue Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Specific entry requirements “Epidemiology I: Introduction to Epidemiology” (course 1577), “Biostatistics I: Introduction for epidemiologists” (course 1579), “Epidemiology II: Design of epidemiological studies” (course 1622), “Biostatistics II: Logistic regression for epidemiologists” (course 2797) and “Biostatistics III: Survival analysis for epidemiologists” (course 1685) or corresponding courses. Content This course is of interest for all researchers who wish to estimate causal effects from observational data, using clustered designs. Examples may include epidemiologists, social scientists, and econometricians. The aim of empirical research is often to estimate the causal effect of a particular exposure on a particular outcome. A complicating feature of observational studies is that the exposure-outcome association is typically “confounded”, and cannot be given a causal interpretation. The standard approach to deal with confounding is to control for confounders in the analysis, e.g. by regression modeling. However, many confounders may be difficult to measure, or unknown to the investigator. An appealing solution is to study within-family associations, which are automatically controlled for all factors that are shared within the family (e.g. socioeconomic status, genetic factors). In this course we will learn the theory and practice of within-family analyses. In many studies, the research question is to what extent a phenotype is caused by genetic factors. Frequently though, there may be no obvious candidate gene, and financial limitations may prohibit a genome wide scan. An appealing solution is to study whether the phenotype tends to run in families; the stronger genetic influence, the larger familial heredity. A commonly used methodology to estimate the fraction of variation in an outcome which may be attributable to genes and environment is the classic twin methodology. In this course we will learn about the concept of heritability, its underlying assumptions, and applications in the classic twin method. Teaching and learning activities Different strategies for teaching and learning, such as interactive lectures, small group discussions and exercises on selected topics, will be used. Target group The course is of relevance for doctoral students in the fields of epidemiology, public health, sociology, demography, psychology, statistics, health economics, and other medical and social sciences. Post-doctoral fellows are also welcome to apply. Course director and teachers Ralf Kuja-Halkola, PhD, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet (email address: [email protected]) Arvid Sjölander, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet Paul Lichtenstein, PhD, Professor, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet Brian D’Onofrio, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Application Application can be done May 19 to August 31, 2015. Apply here: https://websurvey.textalk.se/start.php?ID=86949
