2012 Workshop Series

Date: Monday, May 14, 2012

Location: University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Workshop Options

Registration:
Register using this downloadable form.

Fees:
Students registered for the CSEB Student Conference pay a flat fee of $75 extra to attend any half- or full-day workshop. Students can register via the conference website. Fees include food and beverage during breaks and lunch. Free workshops do not include food or beverage.

Workshop Outlines and Speaker Bios:

1. Introduction to Food-borne Outbreak Investigation
Dr. Joanne Tataryn, Ms. Teresa Leung and Ms. Meghan Hamel
Outbreak Management Division, Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (CFEZID), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)

Room Location: TBA
Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (Full Day)
Fee workshop: Yes
Capacity: 30

Description:
Participants will test their disease investigation skills using a case study of a large food-borne outbreak. Topics covered include questionnaire design, case definitions, environmental investigations, descriptive and analytic epidemiology, and using data to guide public health action. Participants will leave the workshop with an understanding of food-borne outbreak investigations in Canada, as well as in the selection, design and analysis of an analytic study during an outbreak.

Target Audience:
Epidemiology students and public health professionals with interest in learning more about food-borne outbreak investigations in Canada and applying epidemiologic outbreak investigation principles.

Prerequisites:
Basic understanding of the steps in an outbreak investigation (course reading); Knowledge of Microsoft Excel

Course Goal:
To provide students and public health professionals with an overview of enteric outbreak investigations in Canada and an opportunity to apply outbreak investigation skills.

Learning Objectives:
The learning objectives of this course are to:

Apply epidemiologic principles during a food-borne outbreak investigation;
Practice analyzing and interpreting data; and,
Develop and test a hypothesis in order to describe the cause of an outbreak.

Speaker Bios:
Dr. Joanne Tataryn, Senior Epidemiologist, Outbreak Management Division, Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada

Dr. Joanne Tataryn is a senior epidemiologist with the Outbreak Management Division at the Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (CFEZID), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Joanne received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in 1999, and following graduation, worked as a clinical associate at WCVM and a veterinary inspector with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). She returned to University in 2005 to do a Master’s of Science in Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan, focusing on methods of evaluating and improving surveillance systems.

Joanne is very interested in applied epidemiological research, surveillance and outbreak investigation and management. While working for CFIA, she was involved in the large avian influenza outbreak in Abbotsford, BC, in 2004, and the large anthrax epizootic in Saskatchewan in 2006. In 2007, she joined the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program (CFEP) at PHAC to further sharpen her outbreak investigation skills and to diversify her knowledge and experience in public health. While with CFEP, she worked at the Saskatoon Health Region and worked on a variety of public health issues, including West Nile virus, food-borne illness outbreaks and surveillance for congenital anomalies.

Since joining the Outbreak Management Division in November 2010, Joanne has focused on food-borne outbreak investigation and response and has worked on number of recent national outbreaks. She is based out of the University of Saskatchewan.

———–

Meghan Hamel, Public Health Officer and Epidemiologist, Outbreak Management Division, Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada

Meghan Hamel is a Public Health Officer and Epidemiologist with the Outbreak Management Division at the Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (CFEZID), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Meghan received her undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, and a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from Queen’s University in 2007.

Prior to joining the Outbreak Management Division in December 2010, Meghan worked with the PEI Department of Health as a Communicable Disease Epidemiologist, conducting disease surveillance and response activities for the province.

———–

Teresa Leung, Epidemiologist, Outbreak Management Division (OMD), Public Health Agency of Canada

Teresa Leung is an epidemiologist with the Outbreak Management Division (OMD), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Prior to working with OMD, Teresa completed the Canadian Field Epidemiology program at Vancouver Coastal Health Authority where she supported surveillance activities, including mass gathering surveillance for the 2010 Olympic Games, and outbreak investigations. She also participated in the global Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) program to strengthen surveillance and immunization activities for acute flaccid paralysis, as well as measles and neonatal tetanus. Teresa has also worked in other areas of the PHAC, including respiratory infectious diseases and emergency preparedness and response.

2. Advanced Statistical Models for Epidemiology: Multilevel Models; Random Effects Models; and Generalized Estimating Equations (Full Day)
Dr. Yutaka Yasui, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta

Location: TBA
Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (Full Day)
Fee workshop: Yes
Capacity: TBD

Description:
This course will cover the roles of statistical models in epidemiology and public health research; reviews of basic regression analysis; the concept of “outcome correlation” and handling it in models; generalized Estimating Equations: Methods and Applications; random effects models: methods and applications; multilevel analysis; and, group-randomized trials.

Examples from literature and applications of the methods to real data analyses using SAS or STATA will be emphasized throughout the workshop.

Prerequisites:
Concepts and methods of basic regression analysis with multiple linear and logistic regression models. Being able to perform basic regression analysis with multiple linear and logistic regression models in SAS or STATA.

Basic concepts and methods of epidemiology.

Technical Requirement:
Participants should bring a laptop with either SAS and/or STATA downloaded.

Course Goal:
To introduce the concepts and methods of advanced regression analyses, with hands on practice with SAS and STATA, to graduate students in epidemiology and other public health fields, including multilevel analysis, random effects models, and generalized estimating equations.

Recommended Readings:
Review basic statistical models for epidemiology.
Statistical Models for Epidemiology by Clayton and Hills, Oxford University Press.

Speaker Bio:
Yutaka Yasui, Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta

Yutaka Yasui’s research is focused on developing and applying biostatistical/epidemiologic methods in the intersection of biology and public health/clinical sciences. His research group collaborates closely within the group and with leading local, national, and international scientists in various health-science fields. Their research contributions are: (1) providing state-of-the-art quantitative methods and ensuring methodological rigor in collaborative research projects; and, (2) developing proper/better methods for advancing knowledge discovery and translation.

Degrees:

PhD, Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, 1994
BS, Kyoto University, School of Engineering, 1989

Awards:

Canada Research Chair, Canada Research Chair Program, 2005-2015
Health Senior Scholar Award, Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions, 2006-2013
Award of Excellence in Graduate Teaching, Public Health Sciences Students’ Association, 2009
Award of Excellence in Graduate Teaching, Public Health Sciences Students’ Association, 2007

Selected Publications:

Yasui, Y., Lele, S. (1997). A regression method for spatial disease rates: An estimating function approach. Journal of the American Statistical Association 92:21-32.
Yasui, Y., Pepe, M., Thompson, ML., Adam, BL., Wright, G., Jr., Qu, Y., Potter, JD., Winget, M., Thornquist, M., Feng, Z. (2003). A data-analytic strategy for protein-biomarker discovery: Profiling of high-dimensional proteomic data for cancer detection. Biostatistics 4(3):449-63.
Yasui, Y., Liu, Y., Neglia, J., Friedman, D., Bhatia, S., Meadows, A., Diller, L., Mertens, A., Whitton, J., Robison, L.L. (2003). A methodological issue in the analysis of second cancer incidence in long-term survivors of childhood cancers. American Journal of Epidemiology. 158(11):1108-13.
Yasui, Y., Feng, Z., Diehr, P., McLerran, D., Beresford, SAA., McCulloch, CE. (2004). Evaluation of community intervention trials via generalized linear mixed models. Biometrics 60:1043-52.
Dinu, I., Potter, JD., Mueller, T., Liu, Q., Adewale, AJ., Jhangri, GS., Einecke, G., Famulski, KS., Halloran, P., Yasui Y. (2007). Improving gene set analysis of microarray data by SAM-GS. BMC Bioinformatics 8:242.

3. Introduction to EpiData Database Design
Dr. Bijay Adhikari, Saskatchewan Ministry of Health

Room Location: TBA
Time: 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM (Half-day)
Fee workshop: Yes
Capacity: TBD

Description:
After completing the course participants should be able to use EpiData Entry to create a data entry system based on the questionnaire, to construct a database form and protect the database from certain input errors by writing a check program. They should also be able to use some of the EpiData Entry features in the Tools and Document menus and be able to import and export data.

Prerequisites:

No prior knowledge of EpiData Entry is assumed;
Basic understanding of MS Excel is helpful;
Basic understanding of simple statistical calculation is helpful;
Basic computing skills; and,
Reading resource will be provided at least two weeks prior to the session.

Course Goal:
To provide participants with a solid introduction to EpiData Entry.

Speaker Bio:
Bijay Adhikari, PhD, MPH, DVM, Provincial Communicable Disease Epidemiologist, Saskatchewan Ministry of Health

Bijay Adhikari completed a veterinary degree from the Tribhuvan University, Nepal. After years of public service in Kathmandu, he attended Massey University, New Zealand, and received a Masters in Public Health in 2003. In 2008, Bijay completed his PhD in Veterinary Medicine (epidemiology) at Washington State University. He worked at the Ohio State University as a postdoctoral researcher before joining the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) as an Immunization Surveillance Officer in Regina, Saskatchewan, and working with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health. Bijay is currently working as a Provincial Communicable Disease Epidemiologist at the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health. Working with data and database is his prime interest and he has designed a number of databases using EpiData and EpiInfo.

Selected peer-reviewed articles:

Taylor J., Galanis E., Stone J., Ekkert J., Quibell, D., Wilcott L., Hoang L., McCormick R., Whitfield Y., Adhikari B., Grant C., Sharma D., 2011. An Outbreak of Salmonella Chester in Canada: Rare Serotype, Uncommon Exposure and Unusual Population Demographic Facilitate Rapid Identification of Food Vehicle. Journal of Food Protection (accepted).
Redgate L, Garner M, McConnell A, Adhikari B, Holt T, Robichaud S, Jones A, Brindamour M, Tan B., 2011. Characteristics of Children Hospitalized with Pandemic Influenza (pH1N1) Infection in Saskatoon, 2009-2010 Flu Season. PLoS One (in press).
Adhikari B., Besser T. E., Gay J. M., Fox L. K., Hancock D. D., Davis M. A., 2010. Multilocus Variable Number of Tandem Repeats Analysis and Plasmid Profiling to Study the Occurrence of blaCMY-2 within a PFGE-defined Clade of Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 76(1): 69–74.

4. Introduction to Structural Equation Models for Health Data
Lisa Lix, PhD, P.Stat., School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan

Location: TBA
Time: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM (Half-day)
Fee workshop: Yes
Capacity: 22

Description:
Structural equation models (SEM) allow researchers to test complex relationships for multiple dependent variables and examine both the direct and indirect effects of independent variables. It is increasingly being used in clinical and epidemiologic research, particularly in the analysis of patient-reported outcomes and to address measurement error in epidemiologic studies.

Prerequisites:
Participants should be familiar with multiple regression analysis.

Course Goal:
At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

Describe the differences amongst the three types of structural equation models:
- causal models for directly observed variables,
- measurement models and confirmatory factor analysis, and,
- structural regression models with latent variables;
Be familiar with the statistical theory underlying SEM;
Identify advantages of SEM over conventional analysis techniques;
Describe potential applications of SEM in the health sciences; and,
Work through the steps in fitting a SEM to a real dataset.

Speaker Bio:
Lisa Lix, Associate Professor and Centennial Research Chair, School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan

Lisa Lix is Associate Professor and Centennial Research Chair in the School of Public Health at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a biostatistician and health services researcher with interests in health services research methodology, quality of administrative health databases, measurement error, the analysis of repeated measures and longitudinal data, and robust statistical methods for multivariate data.

Relevant References:

Lix, L. M., Acan, B., Adachi, J. D., Towheed, T., Davison, S., Hopman, W., & Leslie, W.D. (in press). Measurement equivalence of the SF-36 in the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes.
Barclay-Goddard, R., Lix, L. M., Tate, R., Weinberg, L., & Mayo, N. E. (2011). Health related quality of life after stroke: Does response shift occur in self perceived physical function? Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 92, 1762-1769.
Lix, L. M. & Sajobi, T. T. (2010). Testing multiple outcomes in repeated measures designs. Psychological Methods, 15(3), 268-280.
Lix, L. M., Metge, C. M., & Leslie, W. D. (2009). Measurement equivalence of osteoporosis-specific and general quality-of-life instruments in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women. Quality of Life Research, 18, 619-627.

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2012 Workshop Series