At the Interface of Epidemiology and Health Decision Science: Jointly Shaping Cancer Screening Strategies
Join us on Wednesday, October 15th for the Epidemiology Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Uwe Siebert discussing “At the Interface of Epidemiology and Health Decision Science: Jointly Shaping Cancer Screening Strategies“.
Abstract: Epidemiologic analyses provide essential evidence for decision-analytic models guiding cancer screening policy. This presentation highlights how such data are generated, transformed, and linked to inform clinical guidelines, health technology assessments, and citizen information, with case examples from colorectal cancer screening in the U.S. and Europe. Decision-analytic models rely on epidemiologic inputs –-such as disease prevalence, test performance, prognosis, and treatment effectiveness – to compare strategies that differ in age limits, intervals, test modalities, and risk-based algorithms. These models quantify trade-offs between benefits (reduced morbidity/mortality) and harms (false positives, complications, overdiagnosis). To ensure reliable guidance, cross-disciplinary understanding is critical: epidemiologists must recognize how their estimates influence model outputs, while decision scientists must understand the assumptions, limitations, and causal interpretations of those estimates. By fostering collaboration across biostatistics, epidemiology, global health and decision science, we can strengthen the evidence base for cancer screening and ensure strategies appropriately balance benefits and harms.
Bio: Uwe Siebert, MPH, MSc, ScD, is a physician by training and Professor of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Chair of the Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and HTA at UMIT TIROL – University for Health Sciences and Technology in Austria, and Director of the International Continuing Education Program in HTA and Decision Science (htads.org). He is also Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology and Health Policy & Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Uwe is the current President- of ISPOR – The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research and former President of the Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM).
His research interests include applying evidence-based quantitative and translational methods in the framework of health care policy advice and HTA as well as in the clinical context of routine health care, public health policies and patient guidance. He has worked with several HTA Agencies in Europe, Brazil, US and Canada and he advises public and government agencies, academic institutions and industry regarding the conduction of HTAs and their impact on policy and reimbursement decisions. He has authored more than 500 publications and is an Editor of the European Journal of Epidemiology and editorial board member of several scientific journals.
Speaker Information
Uwe Siebert, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD
Organizers
Related Events
Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture: Micky Tripathi, Mayo Clinic
The Department of Health Policy and Management invites you to join the bi-annual Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture, featuring Dr. Micky Tripathi, Chief Artificial Intelligence Implementation Officer at the Mayo Clinic. The event will include an in-person lecture by Dr. Tripathi, who will be speaking about AI applications to health care delivery, followed by a reception. Further details about the event and Dr. Tripathi’s lecture will be posted here as the date approaches.
This event has now passed. Click below to watch a recording of the lecture.
Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture, featuring Dr. Micky Tripathi, Mayo Clinic
Friday, October 17th, 2025
Lecture: 3:00-4:00PM, Kresge 502
Reception: 4:00-5:00PM, Kresge Atrium
In-person only
All questions can be directed to Rachel Levitt (rlevitt@hsph.harvard.edu). Please note: Speakers’ remarks are based on their own scholarship and experiences. They do not speak for Harvard.
About the Lecture
“The Digital Transformation of Health Care“
The publication of the Institute of Medicine’s landmark studies “To Err is Human” and “Crossing the Quality Chasm” brought national attention to the question of how to harness information technology to advance the quality, safety and efficiency of our health care system. Two decades of hard work by the public and private sectors has transformed the largest and most complex sector of the US economy from paper to digital. As is now clear, that investment was just the prelude to the AI future that we’re now building. This lecture will reflect on the lessons learned from the creation of this digital foundation, and the opportunities and challenges ahead in the AI era.
About the Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture Series
The Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture is a bi-annual lecture series in honor of Dr. Herbert Sherman, who was an electrical engineer on the faculty at MIT and the Draper Labs who became interested in health care delivery and moved to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He was particularly interested in healthcare IT, quality of care, operations research, and technology assessment. Dr. Sherman brought multidisciplinary and creative solutions to the problems of health care delivery. This lecture series features experts in the field of health policy or management who reflect Dr. Sherman’s legacy of bringing multidisciplinary and creative solutions to the problems of health care delivery.
Speaker Information
Micky Tripathi, PhD
Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., is Mayo Clinic’s chief artificial intelligence implementation officer. With a focus on oversight and ongoing monitoring of artificial intelligence (AI) across the Mayo Clinic enterprise, Dr. Tripathi drives AI adoption and establishes streamlined pathways to integrate safe and effective AI into the clinical practice.
With over three decades of healthcare leadership experience, Dr. Tripathi’s expertise spans public and private sectors in strategy, product development and operations with a proven track record in leading large-scale health information technology (IT) projects and fostering collaborations. He served as a top federal official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he oversaw clinical data standards, health IT policies, interoperability and health AI regulations. His work established nationwide data and interoperability standards across all HHS divisions and more than 500 electronic health record (EHR) products, impacting 97% of hospitals and 78% of physician offices across the nation. As the HHS’s chief AI officer, he developed AI transparency and risk management regulations for more than 900 certified EHR developers. He also vetted and approved all AI applications.
Before joining HHS, Dr. Tripathi served as chief alliance officer at Arcadia. In that role, he was responsible for developing and executing inorganic growth strategies ranging from enterprise partnerships to mergers and acquisitions. Further, he served as the president and CEO of Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, providing health IT and data analytics services to healthcare customers across the U.S.
Dr. Tripathi received his undergraduate studies at Vassar College, earned his master’s degree from Harvard University and completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Recognized for his visionary yet practical leadership, Dr. Tripathi has served on numerous boards, and he excels in managing complex initiatives at the intersection of health, technology, business and regulation.
What on Earth is “Pluralism” for American Life Today?
You are invited to the What on Earth is “Pluralism” for American Life Today? Co-sponsored by the Center for Bioethics (HMS), the Office for Community and Belonging (HSPH), and Office of Dental Education (HSDM).
Diana L. Eck is a Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies Emerita at Harvard University and Frederic Wertham Research Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society. She is also founder and Director of the Pluralism Project, which for nearly 30 years has studied the changing religious landscape of America and its significance for American society. As a scholar of India, she has published Banaras, City of Light, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, and India: A Sacred Geography. With the Pluralism Project, she turned her attention to the U.S. and has produced an extensive web-based resource for understanding multi-religious and multi-cultural America. On the subject of pluralism she has written Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras and A New Religious America: How A ‘Christian’ Country Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation. In 1998, she received the National Humanities Medal from President Clinton for her work on religious pluralism in America and in 2011 she delivered the Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh on “The Age of Pluralism.”
Speaker Information
Diana Eck
Organizers
The Big Joy Project: Using Daily Microacts to Promote Global Well-Being
On Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, from 1-1:50 PM in FXB G13 and online, all are welcome to join us for the fifth installment in our Virtues for Well-being seminar series, featuring leading expert on joy Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas.
Lunch provided.
Event Description
Greater well-being predicts better health, more satisfying relationships, and overall success in life – and it is of utmost importance to most people. Recent scholarship has yielded a growing canon of empirically-tested interventions to enhance well-being, though few are multifaceted or widely, freely accessible. This presentation will share insights from the Big JOY project, an interactive public online program that offers 7 daily well-being micro-acts alongside individualized feedback about momentary and pre-to-post impact. A global, collaborative Citizen Science initiative, analysis of voluntary single-arm Big JOY participant responses sheds light on key patterns of engagement and impact; financial strain predicts drop off, younger people report greater benefit to well-being, and greater adherence ties to stronger endorsement of prosocial mores. Published findings and ongoing examination of the Big JOY dataset promise to inform continued efforts to promote well-being effectively, sustainably, and at scale.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas is the Science Director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center (GGSC). She runs the GGSC’s annual research fellowship program as well as major research initiatives on topics like gratitude, humility, and love. She teaches the science of well-being widely, including open online courses that have enrolled over 1M learners worldwide. Dr. Simon-Thomas leads collaborative efforts to give widespread access to well-being insights and practical strategies for improvement, and also investigate impact on individuals, interpersonal dynamics, and biological processes. She co-edited the 2017 Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science, and co-authored the 2025 Daily Flourish: A Science Backed Journal to Build Positivity, Connection, and Resilience. Dr. Simon-Thomas serves as an expert voice on the neuroscience and social implications of prosocial states like compassion and awe and the well-being benefits of generous and nurturing behaviors.
Speaker Information
Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas
Organizers
Fall Freecyle!
Join us at the Kresge atrium for an Earth-friendly community swap. Bring extra office or school supplies, books, small household items, or clothes — and take home something new-to-you for free. Please do not bring used lab equipment or consumables. For more information please reach out to mailto: susan_bottino@harvard.edu.
Organizers
On Thin Ice: stories of trust (and mistrust) in Arctic research and policy
The Office of Field Education and Practice is pleased to host the first Community Engaged Learning Seminar with colleagues from the Harvard Arctic Initiative.
Moderated by Sappho Gilbert, postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Chan School and research fellow at the Arctic Initiative, this panel will explore the role of trust in research and policy with Arctic communities, focusing on how it is built, sustained, and at times lost and rebuilt. Drawing on examples from knowledge co-production and community engagement, governance, health care, food systems, and infrastructure, panelists will detail the risks of broken trust and the potential of lockstep, community-centered partnerships. Panelists include Harvard Chan student and Rose Service Learning Fellow, Kenzo Kimura and Fulbright Scholars at the Arctic Initiative, Alexandra Middleton, Hans Peder Kirkegaard and Juho Kähkönen.
Register for the in-person event here.
Attend via Zoom
Organizers
Blood Drive – Harvard Chan Community Day of Service
Sign up by searching sponsor code HARVARDCHAN
As part of the Harvard Chan Community Day of Service, sign up to donate blood with the American Red Cross on Tuesday, September 30th from 10:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m. Event is located on the second floor of Kresge in the student lounge.
First, Do No Harm: A Symposium in Memory of Lucian Leape
Join us for a symposium and reception in honor and memory of Lucian Leape, who passed away this past summer at the age of 94. The Department of Health Policy and Management will celebrate Lucian’s impact and look ahead to the challenges and opportunities for the patient safety movement he did so much to advance. Read his New York Times obituary here.
Symposium: 2:00PM – 5:15PM, Kresge G1 & Online (Livestream)
Reception: 5:15PM-6:30PM, Kresge Atrium
This event is open to the public. Registration is required for all in-person attendees. All in-person attendees who do not already have Harvard University ID access to the Kresge Building will be required to bring a photo ID and check in at the Kresge security desk. Registration ensures that you will be on the guest list when you check in.
Keynote Speakers
Don Berwick, MD, MPP, FRCP, KBE
This event will also feature two panels:
Panel 1: “Lucian Leape – Navigating the Ship of Patient Safety”
Panelists: David Bates, Tejal Gandhi, David Blumenthal
Moderator: Joel Weissman
Panel 2: “Achieving Zero Harm: Paths Forward”
Panelists: Michelle Anderson, Patricia Dykes, Michaela Kerrissey
Moderator: Eric Schneider
Panelists & Moderators
Michelle Anderson, BSN, RN
David Bates, MD, MSc
Pressure Points is a webinar series co-hosted by The Studio and Executive and Continuing Education at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health bringing you inside the business of health care.
With its transformative power, AI already has changed the business of health care — but not without challenges and concerns. Join leaders in technology, health care, and academia for a transparent conversation about where AI is delivering real impact, where it’s falling short, and what the future may hold.
Register for free to submit your questions.
An on-demand video will be posted after the event.
Designed for professionals navigating today’s evolving health care landscape, Pressure Points explores the industry’s most urgent challenges—from workforce shifts and financial pressures to leadership, technology, and innovation. Join leading experts for timely conversations on what’s shaping the business of health care now—and what lies ahead.
Speakers
Moderator
Trishan Panch
About the Organizers
The Harvard Chan Studio is the hub for the School’s premier in-person and live-streamed events. We convene global leaders in health policy, advocacy, industry, and research for insightful conversations about public health’s most pressing challenges and most promising solutions.
Executive and Continuing Education
Strengthen your expertise and build new capabilities to address pressing healthcare and public health challenges. Learn from industry experts and esteemed Harvard faculty and join a global community of peers driven to creating a healthier world.
Brown Bag Seminar: Thyroid cancer prevention in radiological emergencies
Yoshitaka Nishikawa, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist, Takemi Fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and associate professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine. His work focuses on developing and disseminating health information to protect people from disasters and diseases, particularly cancer and gastrointestinal diseases. He leads two reporting guidelines: CAST-D (case studies in public health and medicine related to disasters) and WATER (wastewater analysis and tracking in epidemiological reporting). His Takemi project examines stable iodine implementation after radiological emergencies at individual, community, and national policy levels.