Making Tradeoffs Explicit: Advancing Decision Science for Public Health Policy
Public health decision-making is increasingly complex, involving tradeoffs between competing considerations such as length versus quality of life, health gains versus economic costs, and efficiency versus equity. Health decision science provides structured, transparent approaches to evaluating these tradeoffs and informing decisions in the face of constrained budgets for health care and public health. Dr. Pandya’s research applies and advances health decision science methods to make tradeoffs explicit in difficult health policy decisions. This talk will highlight selected research addressing clinical questions (e.g., how many adults in the US should receive statin therapy?), policy questions (e.g., which quality measures should be prioritized in acute stroke care?), and methodological questions (e.g., how can researchers weigh efficiency-equity tradeoffs?).
The Department of Health Policy and Management will host this event in hybrid format. If you would like to join us by Zoom, please register at the link above to receive the Zoom details. If you plan to join in person, there is no need to RSVP. Thank you!
All speakers share their own perspectives; they do not speak for Harvard.
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Parents today are facing unprecedented levels of stress, with many reporting symptoms of anxiety, depression, burnout, and loneliness. The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2024 advisory calls parental mental health and well-being an urgent public health issue, sighting the effects of parental health on the health and development of children. In this discussion, experts will examine the factors driving parental stress, explore how parental mental health shapes child development and family well-being, and discuss evidence-based strategies to better support parents. Drawing on research in public health, psychology, and child development, panelists will share practical insights for families while considering the policies and community investments needed to help parents—and the next generation—thrive.
Watch the premiere on our YouTube page.
An on-demand video will be posted after the event.
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Melody Mendez
The Role of Intuition in Epidemiology
Join us on Wednesday, October 28th for the Department of Epidemiology seminar series featuring Dr. Matthew Fox.
Abstract: Intuition is a necessary part of everyday life, without which we could not make it through a day. Epidemiologists are taught to rely on science, reason, and facts in their work and yet, it is likely that we use intuition all the time. We use it when we make decisions about interpreting the results of studies, about the impact of sources of bias, in the decisions we make in our own research, in our teaching and in our communication with other scientists and the general public. Yet it isn’t clear when this approach is useful and when it causes harm. This talk will focus on the role of intuition in epidemiology with examples of cases where we rely on it too much and cases where we don’t use it enough.
Bio: Matthew Fox, DSc, MPH, is a Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Global Health at Boston University. Dr. Fox joined Boston University in 1999. His research interests include treatment outcomes in HIV-treatment programs, infectious disease epidemiology (with specific interests in HIV and pneumonia), and epidemiologic methods. Dr. Fox works on ways to improve retention in HIV-care programs in South Africa from the time of testing HIV-positive through long-term treatment. As part of this work, he is involved in analyses to assess the impact of changes in South Africa’s National Treatment Guidelines for HIV. Dr. Fox also does research on quantitative bias analysis and co-authored a book on these methods, Applying Quantitative Bias Analysis to Epidemiologic Data. He is also the host of a public health journal club podcast called Free Associations designed to help people stay current in the public health literature and think critically about the quality of research studies and a podcast on Epidemiologic Methods called SERious Epi. He currently teaches a third-level epidemiologic methods class, Advanced Epidemiology as well as two other doctoral level epidemiologic methods courses.
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Innovations in Care Models and Trial Design: Two Decades of Research Improving HIV and Hepatitis C Outcomes in Key Populations in India
Join us on Wednesday, September 30th for the Department of Epidemiology seminar series featuring Dr. Shruti Mehta.
Bio: Shruti H. Mehta, PhD, MPH is the Charles Armstrong Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for AIDS Research and the Director of the Johns Hopkins HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Sciences Training Program. Her research focuses on improving access and uptake of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) interventions among key populations with a particular focus on people who inject drugs with research programs in Baltimore and India.
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Dark Causal Inference: Why Most Causal Inference in Epidemiology is Invisible
Join us on Wednesday, September 23rd for the Department of Epidemiology seminar series featuring Dr. Jeremy Labrecque.
Abstract: In some ways epidemiology is leading the way in the uptake of causal inference but I will argue that it is very far behind where it could easily be. Even in the top epidemiology journals, fewer than half of studies using explicitly causal methods (g-methods or TMLE) state an explicitly causal question and fewer than half mention consistency and positivity. There is no reason that all such articles should not always include a causal question, clearly-stated causal assumptions and supporting arguments for those assumptions. When a causal claim (however tentative or weak) is made in the absence of these, I refer to this as “dark causal inference”: causal inference that is implied but not observable (in analogy to dark matter). There are many reasons dark causal inference is overwhelmingly abundant in epidemiology of which I will explore two: 1) our continuing misuse of the word “association” (and similar non-causal language) and 2) failing to teach students how to reason about causal inference when causal assumptions are not satisfied.
Bio: Jeremy Labrecque is assistant professor of epidemiology and leader of the Causal Inference Group at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His two main current interests are: 1) reasoning about causal inference when causal assumptions are violated using tools such as quantitative bias analysis, negative controls and causal triangulation and 2) increasing the uptake of causal inference among applied epidemiologists.
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Mortality Displacement: Sixty Years of Debate and Consequences
Join us on Wednesday, September 9th for the Department of Epidemiology seminar series featuring Dr. David Jones.
Abstract: As scrutiny of air pollution epidemiology increased in the 1960s, researchers wondered whether pollution crises mostly killed people with preexisting cardiac or respiratory disease who would have died soon anyway. This idea, named “mortality displacement,” “harvesting,” or “anticipation” gained increasing attention in the 1990s and 2000s, with studies of air pollution, heat waves, and climate change, and again in the 2020s with COVID. Pinning down whether the phenomenon is real or not has proved surprisingly difficult: many contradictory findings have been published. The most careful analyses (many done at HSPH) have discounted the phenomenon. Yet the concept endures in both academic writing and public discourse. This talk will explore the history of mortality displacement in an attempt to understand why the debates persist and what consequences the debates—and the concept itself—might have for public policy.
Bio: Trained in psychiatry and history of science, David Jones teaches history of medicine, medical ethics, and social medicine at Harvard University. His research has ranged from the history of epidemics to heart disease, cardiac therapeutics, race, air pollution, and the health effects of the climate crisis.
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Special Social Demography Seminar with Maria Glymour honoring Lisa Berkman’s 18 years of leadership
Please join us in person if you can (or online) for this special start to our Social Demography Seminar Series with Maria Glymour who will present “Evidence triangulation in dementia research.” We will also be hosting an Open House later the same day from 4:00–5:00 p.m. at the Pop Center where past/current students and fellows, plus colleagues and friends, are invited to raise a glass to Lisa Berkman in honor of her 18 years of leadership at Harvard Pop Center.
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The Studio Open House 2026
What public health leader do you want to meet this year?
Harvard Chan School students are invited to let us know at The Studio’s Open House, August 27, 1-2 p.m., 10th Floor, Kresge Building.
The Harvard Chan Studio regularly convenes policymakers, scientists, alums, and media to livestream and record discussions about public health.
Drop by the Open House and:
- share your suggestions for speakers and topics
- meet fellow students and give your quick takes on public health
- say hello to golden retriever Sophie, a therapy dog
- enjoy some light refreshments
- grab some Studio swag
Guests will be admitted on a rolling basis until we reach capacity. Harvard ID required. Please note that attendees may be photographed or recorded.
- A selection of upcoming Studio events:
- Crisis leadership 25 years after 9/11
- Wildfire smoke: Health and environmental impacts
- Transforming mental health care
- Americans’ opinions about public health
- Driving down health care costs
- Grief, loss, and trauma
FXB Open House
Join the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights for an in-person open house! Program directors will be available to share information about the Center’s scholarship and opportunities to get involved. Light refreshments will be provided. All members of the Harvard community are welcome. No RSVP required.
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Future of Public Health in the age of AI
Join us on Wednesday, September 14th for a special Department of Epidemiology seminar featuring Dr. Karl Lauterbach.