Statistical Practice in Epidemiology using R.

Course from Thursday 23 to Wednesday 29 May 2013
Lyon, France

Audience

The course is intended for epidemiologists and statisticians who wish to use R for statistical modeling and analysis of epidemiological data. The course requires basic knowledge of epidemiological concepts and study types. These will only be briefly reviewed, whereas the more advanced epidemiological and statistical concepts will be treated in depth.

History of R. Language. Objects. Functions.
Interface to other data formats. Data frames.
Tabulation of data.
Logistic regression for case-control-studies.
Poisson regression for follow-up studies.
Causal inference.
Parametrization of models.
Graphics in R.
Graphical reporting of results.
Time-splitting & Standardized Mortality Ratios.
Survival analysis and competing risks.
Multi-state models.
Nested and matched case-control studies.
Case-cohort studies.

All methods will be thoroughly illustrated using R in practical exercises. The Epi package which is developed for epidemiological analysis in R will be introduced. Particular attention will be given to the reporting of the results; in particular the use of graphics.

Course program

There will be no course on the Sunday; participants will be free to explore Lyon. The schedule is:

Thursday 23: Full day
Friday 24: Full day
Saturday 25th: Full day
Sunday 26th: Free
Monday 27th: Full day
Tuesday 28th: Full day
Wednesday 29th: Half day

Practicals

The course is a mixture of lectures and practicals, with emphasis on hands-on help from the faculty during the practical sessions.
Participants should bring their own laptop, with the latest versions of both R and the Epi package installed.
Participants will have access to all the course materials, including solutions to the exercises, after the course.

Faculty:

Bendix Carstensen, Senior Statistician, Steno Diabetes Center, Gentofte & Department of Biostatistics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Maintainer of the Epi package for R
Krista Fischer, Senior Researcher, Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Estonia.
Esa Läärä, Professor of Biometry, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Oulu, Finland.
Martyn Plummer, Statistician, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
Member of the R core team.

Course fee: 600 EUR

Includes course, course material, coffee breaks, and social events (welcome cocktail and course dinner).
Excludes transport, accommodation, lunches and evening meals.

The course is a self-supporting entity, and there are NO grants or stipends available for travel or participation.

Application:

Please fill in the electronic application form
Deadline for application: 1 April 2013
Information to applicants will be given by e-mail shortly after the deadline.

Venue:

International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
IARC

Accommodation:

Course participants are responsible for arranging their own accommodation. A list of hotels and residences will be sent to successful applicants.

Transport to Lyon:

Lyon has an international airport serving 115 direct destinations. Some routes are available on low-cost airlines.
A high-speed tram connects the airport to the city centre.
Lyon can also be reached directly by TGV from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris (2 hrs).
Lyon has an extensive public transport network. The IARC can be reached from the town centre on metro line D.

Arrival must be Wednesday 22nd, as the course starts at 8:45 on Thursday 23rd.
Departure can be Wednesday 29th in the evening, as the course ends at 13:00.

Updated 5 February 2013