06/05/2023 The 5th Workshop on Advanced Biostatistical Methods

Photo from a workshop in 2018

NAMBARI, the Moi-Brown Partnership for HIV Biostatistics Training, and the Data Science for Social Determinants program, hosted a three-day course on machine learning and predictive inference, with emphasis on topics in HIV. This was followed by a two-day working group on social determinants of health, for those interested.

This was a highly successful event with 48 biostatisticians in attendance.

Target Audience: Professional statisticians, data analysts, university faculty members, and graduate students in sub-Saharan Africa working at universities, research centers, government ministries, or NGOs that are focused on analysis of biomedical and health data.

This workshop was geared toward those with advanced training in statistics. Attendees needed a strong working knowledge of basic statistical analysis methods, including regression analysis, and familiarity with the use of statistical software such as R, SAS or Stata.

Dates: Monday 3 July to Wednesday 5 July, 2023 (Workshop), Thursday 6 July to Friday 7 July, 2023 (Social determinants working group)

Location: Noble Conference Center in Eldoret, Kenya

Cost and other requirements: Selection for both the course and working group was by application only. Tuition for the course was free. Cost of transport to and from Eldoret was covered by attendees.

Accommodation: Provided for participants from outside Eldoret, Kenya (arrive 2 July, depart 6 July or 8 July if staying for Social determinants working group)

Equipment: Participants must bring a laptop with R software installed (instructions will be provided in advance).

Funding: Financial support for this course is provided by the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health through grant D43TW010050

Workshop Structure and Content

  • Mornings: Didactic lecture format covering key concepts and background
  • Afternoons: Hands-on implementation of analysis methods

Instructors

  • Rumi Chunara, PhD is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Computer Science, and Director of the Center for Health Data Science at New York University. Her work is centered around using data to improve population-level public health. Her research also studies methods related to the deployment of machine learning in practice, such as algorithmic fairness. She is PI of the NYU-Moi Data Science for Social Determinants Training Program.
  • Joseph Hogan, ScD is Professor of Biostatistics and Deputy Director of the Data Science Initiative at Brown University. He has carried out extensive research on the development and application of statistical methods for longitudinal data, missing data and causal inference, and has taught several university courses on these topics. He has published over 100 papers and is coauthor of the book Missing Data in Longitudinal Studies (Chapman & Hall, 2008).
  • Ann Mwangi, PhD is Senior Lecturer at Moi University School of Medicine and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Brown University. At Moi, she teaches biostatistics and collaborates extensively with researchers in HIV. She received her PhD in Biostatistics from Brown in 2011. Drs Hogan and Mwangi co-Direct the AMPATH Biostatistics Program.

For further information, please contact Rumi Chunara (rumi.chunara@nyu.edu), Joseph Hogan (jhogan@stat.brown.edu) or Ann Mwangi (annwsum@gmail.com). In addition, please take a look at the flyer for this event, as it may contain the additional information you are looking for.

For administrative and logistics questions, please contact Eileen Wright (eileen_wright@brown.edu).