Screening for Major Diseases — Does it help?
The Cutter Lectures on Preventive Medicine – 10th Symposium
Part of the Cutter Lectures on Preventive Medicine series, The 10th Cutter Symposium “Screening for Major Diseases—Does It Help?” will feature three separate lectures from expert speakers on the topic of screening for colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and infectious diseases followed by a moderated Q&A segment with all the speakers. This symposium is open to the public & is virtual only.
Schedule of talks:
| 1:00PM | Introducing the Cutter Symposium Albert Hofman, MD, PhD |
| 1:05PM | The Power of Colorectal Cancer Screening Hermann Brenner, MD. MPH Abstract: Over 30 years ago, in 1993, a groundbreaking analysis of the US National Polyp Study was published, which suggested that colonoscopic removal of colorectal polyps was associated with an 88% reduction of colorectal cancer incidence. Since then, numerous observational studies and randomized trials have confirmed effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening, even though most of them substantially underestimated screening effects for various reasons. Large heterogeneity in introduction of and adherence to screening programs across countries in the last three decades is mirrored in large heterogeneity of trends in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Modelling studies based on the accumulated evidence confirm that the vast majority of the approximately one million colorectal cancer deaths per year globally could be prevented by screening. |
| 1:35PM | Controversies and Innovations in Screening for Prostate Cancer Lorelei Mucci, ScD Abstract: More than 1.6 million men across the globe are diagnosed with prostate cancer annually, and it is the leading cause of cancer death in more than 50 countries. In randomized controlled trials, screening with prostate specific antigen (PSA) has been shown to reduce cancer mortality over two decades. However, PSA screening also has led to overdiagnosis of prostate cancers that have a low potential for metastasis and concomitant overtreatment of patients. What has ensued over the past two decades has been an active debate about the harms and benefits of screening, guidelines that are often in conflict with one another, and in the United States, a substantial reduction in prostate cancer screening that is now tied to an uptake in incidence of metastatic prostate cancer. This talk will provide an overview of the history of PSA screening, the evidence around risks and harms, the controversies, and recent innovations in approaches to accelerate a risk stratified approach to screening. |
| 2:05PM | Diagnostics, Screening, and Surveillance in Pandemics Marc Lipsitch, DPhil Abstract: This talk will describe challenges and opportunities for surveillance during large infectious disease events, with lessons from COVID-19 and earlier pandemics. Active testing of population-based random samples provide numerous advantages over passive case detection in many situations, while linked data on demographics, severity, and pathogen variant among other characteristics are far more valuable for decision making than the same data if unlinked. Better data can inform more efficient decisions about control measures that improve the ratio of disease control effectiveness to cost and disruption. |
| 2:35PM | General Discussion |
| 3:00PM | Closing by Albert Hofman |
Speakers will share their own perspectives; they do not speak for Harvard.
Speaker Information
Organizers
The Voice of Hind Rajab Film Screening
Film screening
On January 29, 2024, Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call. A 5-year-old girl is trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab.
Food will be offered.
Organizers
Why Stability Matters for Early Childhood Development
Join the Center on the Developing Child’s upcoming webinar to explore why stability plays a critical role in shaping young children’s health and development.
Drawing on insights from the new working paper, From Resources to Routines: The Importance of Stability in the Developmental Environment, the conversation will examine how stability—or the lack of it—across children’s developmental environments can affect their well-being in the moment and across the lifespan, and highlight strategies to promote stability for young children and their caregivers.
The conversation will be moderated by our Chief Science Officer, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, and feature Nathaniel Harnett, PhD, Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Natalie Slopen, ScD, Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
Speaker Information
Organizers
CHDS Seminar with Christopher Jackson
Join the Center for Health Decision Science for a seminar with Christopher Jackson from the University of Cambridge, UK, titled, “Making Semi-Markov Multistate Models for Intermittent Observations Easily Usable.” Multi-state models for changes in a state (e.g. of health or illness) often assume that the transition rate is constant with time spent in the state (the “Markov” assumption). In this seminar, Jackson proposes a new method and software package to relax this often-unrealistic assumption, using hidden states known as “phases.” This is motivated by applications such as modelling the duration of infections, modelling time in a detectable state in cancer screening, and modelling cognitive impairment in studies of ageing.
Christopher Jackson is a Senior Statistician at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge. His research involves incorporating statistical methods in models to combine evidence to inform population health policy. His publications cover Bayesian evidence synthesis, survival analysis, multi-state modelling, longitudinal data, decision theory, and model comparison. He has also developed several popular R packages, and co-authored two textbooks, “The BUGS Book” and “Value of Information for Healthcare Decision-Making.”
Speaker Information
Christopher Jackson
Organizers
21st Kolokotrones Symposium
21st Kolokotrones Symposium – a CAUSALab event in Collaboration with the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research
CAUSALab is thrilled to invite you to the 21st Kolokotrones Symposium at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“External Controls for Causal Inference: Study Design and Analysis” features four expert talks and a panel discussion.
The symposium will provide an introduction to external control arms and explore methodology and study design for causal inference. The symposium will conclude with an expert panel that will consider the question: where do we go from here?
Speakers & panelists:
⭐ Christina Lalani (Moderator) (Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research)
⭐ Dhruv Kazi (Moderator) (Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research)
⭐ Sonia Hernández-Díaz (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)
⭐Lorenzo Trippa (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)
⭐ Daniel Burkhoff (CRF, PV Loops, Columbia University)
⭐ Issa Dahabreh (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)
⭐ Robert Yeh (Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research)
⭐ Laura Mauri (Medtronic)
⭐ Rafael Cavalcante (Boston Scientific)
In person and online attendance free and open to the public. Limited spots available, so please register now to reserve your spot. Zoom link will be distributed to all virtual attendees the week leading up to the event. Additional information can be found on causalab.org.
Speakers’ remarks are based on their own scholarship and experience. As such, they speak for themselves, and not for Harvard University.
This event is hybrid, you can join in person or online by registering in advance.
Organizers
Monday Nutrition Seminar | Food Environment Interventions to Reduce Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption: Updates from California
Please join the Department of Nutrition for the Monday Nutrition Seminar featuring Professor Laura Schmidt from the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Schmidt’s talk—”Food Environment Interventions to Reduce Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption: Updates from California”—will take place on April 6 at 1:00pm ET in FXB G-13 and via Zoom (registration is required).
Healthy snacks will be provided, thanks to the generous support of the Wellbeing Project Fund from the Office of the Associate Provost for Student Affairs.
The Monday Nutrition Seminar Series is free and open to the public. If you plan to attend this event and do not have an active HUID, please fill out the registration form by 3:00 p.m. ET on the Friday before the seminar to request a visitor pass to access the building.
Seminar speakers share their perspectives, they do not speak for Harvard.
Speaker Information
Organizers
Monday Nutrition Seminar | Front-of-package labeling in the United States: The latest evidence informing policy
Please join the Department of Nutrition for the Monday Nutrition Seminar featuring Aviva A. Musicus, ScD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Nutrition at HSPH. Dr. Musicus’s talk—”Front-of-package labeling in the United States: The latest evidence informing policy”—will take place on March 30 at 1:00pm ET in FXB G-13 and via Zoom (registration is required).
Healthy snacks will be provided, thanks to the generous support of the Wellbeing Project Fund from the Office of the Associate Provost for Student Affairs.
The Monday Nutrition Seminar Series is free and open to the public. If you plan to attend this event and do not have an active HUID, please fill out the registration form by 3:00 p.m. ET on the Friday before the seminar to request a visitor pass to access the building.
Seminar speakers share their perspectives, they do not speak for Harvard.
Speaker Information
Organizers
Housing and homelessness: Solutions at the intersection of public health and public safety
Presented jointly with the Initiative on Health and Homelessness
As the cost of living rises across the United States, a record number of people experienced homelessness in 2024*, and shelter, housing, and support services are struggling to meet the need. Join leaders across public health and public safety for a conversation that moves beyond emergency response toward prevention, housing-first strategies, and long-term solutions. Grounded in lived experience and evidence, this panel explores cross-sector solutions with a focus on dignity, safety, and sustainable housing.
*Data according to National Alliance to End Homelessness State of Homelessness: 2025 edition
Register for free to submit your questions.
An on-demand video will be posted after the event.
Speakers
Monica Bharel
Leslie Credle
Gil Kerlikowske
Peter Koutoujian
Moderator
About The Studio
Discovery to intervention: The Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative with Stephen G. Matthews, PhD, FCAHS
Please join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health and the Department of Environmental Health for a talk by Stephen G. Matthews, PhD, FCAHS, Canada Research Chair in Early Development and Health and Professor of Physiology, Ob-Gyn and Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Matthews will discuss “Discovery to intervention: The Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative.”
This event will be held in person (HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302) and via Zoom. Lunch and refreshments provided! Register here
Trainee meeting for students and postdocs immediately following the seminar, 2-3 pm, in 1306A! Come in-person to discuss research interests, career plans, and funding opportunities. RSVP here!
Abstract
It is well established that the environment during pregnancy can have a long-term impact on cardiometabolic and neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring and increase risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in later life. There is growing evidence from preclinical studies and some clinical studies that the preconception period in both females and males and the early pregnancy phase are periods of high sensitivity to environmental perturbation. The Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) was developed to translate new knowledge in the area of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) and improve the health of mothers, infants and children. The HeLTI consortium includes harmonized trials in Canada, China, India and South Africa designed to evaluate the impact of an integrated evidence-based intervention package, delivered through the preconception, pregnancy and postnatal period on, 1) reducing adiposity and obesity, and improving neurodevelopmental and cardiometabolic development in infants and children to 5-years of age and, 2) improving maternal health and pregnancy outcomes. All trials have completed recruitment and combine harmonized data and biospecimen collection. The HeLTI-India trial will be described in detail. Findings from the HeLTI studies will have profound implications for public health policy but will also allow determination of the mechanisms that underlie intergenerational transmission. HeLTI is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and International funding agencies (India, China and South Africa) and is partnered with WHO.
About the speaker
Stephen Matthews, PhD, FCAHS, is Canada Research Chair in Early Development and Health, Professor of Physiology, Ob-Gyn and Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health. He served as Chair of the Department of Physiology (UofT; 2007-2014). He is currently Director of Research at the Alliance for Human Development, LTRI, and Director of the Ontario Birth Study. Matthews is also the Canadian lead PI of the CIHR/DBT-funded Healthy Life Trajectories (HeLTI) trial in India.
His fundamental research program is determining mechanisms by which early interventions and exposures can impact long-term neurologic and endocrine function in offspring across multiple generations. With a focus on epigenetics, his research team is determining the molecular mechanisms by which this occurs. In a parallel program, his group is investigating drug and hormone transport mechanisms in the placenta and fetal brain, with a focus on developing novel treatments to protect the developing fetal brain.
Professor Matthews is committed to translating fundamental research to improve human health. In addition to leadership of the HeLTI-India trial and the Ontario Birth Study, he co-founded the MAVAN program, which followed neurocognitive development in children following adverse early experience. He has secured over $40M in research funding, published 265 full papers and has received >300 invitations to present his work around the world. He was elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2019). He has served as elected President of the Society for Reproductive Investigation. In 2015, he co-founded DOHaD Canada and served as elected President (2018-23).
Speaker Information
Organizers
Nature and Health with Dr. Susan Abookire
The Climate Change & Planetary Health Concentration invites you to their next Brown Bag Lunch Seminar, featuring Dr. Susan Abookire discussing the health benefits of nature.
Topic: Nature and Health
Speaker: Susan Abookire, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School; & Founder, Nature Systems Institute
Date: April 8, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.
Location: FXB G-12, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
You can read more about Dr. Abookire’s work in this recent Washington Post article, “Forest Bathing: Why Harvard doctors are seeking out this natural remedy for themselves.”
The Climate Change and Planetary Health concentration helps students understand the consequences of the current planetary health crisis, including the effects on food, water, air, extreme weather events, heat, migration, and political stability and their subsequent impacts on infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, nutrition, and mental health. Each month, the concentration hosts a seminar, open to all students and faculty at Harvard Chan, featuring a special guest discussing their work at the intersections of climate and health. Learn more.
Speaker Information
Susan Abookire
