AI and humanitarian data: Evidence on reliability, limits, and human oversight
Join the Department of Global Health and Population for this Brown Bag Seminar featuring Patrick Vinck, PhD, research director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We will discuss the reliability and limits of AI for qualitative humanitarian data analysis, with a focus on what these findings imply for human oversight, responsible use, and decision-making.
Speaker bio
Patrick Vinck, PhD, is research director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research focuses on how people and communities affected by conflict, mass violence, and disasters experience and respond to crises. This work has increasingly led him to examine how data and technology shape crisis research and decision-making, including questions around responsible technology and artificial intelligence. He is a co-founder of KoboToolbox, an open-source data collection platform widely used in humanitarian, development, public health, and human rights settings.
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Causal Estimands for Clinical and Regulatory Decision Making
Join us on Wednesday, December 2nd for the Department of Epidemiology seminar series featuring Dr. Miguel Hernan.
Abstract: The estimand is what we want to estimate. When conducting research for clinical and regulatory purposes, the causal estimand typically involves the causal effect of an intervention. Three frameworks have been proposed to describe the causal estimand in randomized trials and observational studies: PICO, the target trial framework, and the E9 (R1) Addendum of the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH). This talks provides a side-by-side comparison of these three estimand frameworks for causal inference, translate across their terminologies, and highlight their commonalities and peculiarities. For decision makers who ask causal questions, the target trial framework subsumes the other two frameworks by providing the most flexibility and level of detail.
Bio: Miguel Hernán is the Director of CAUSALab, the Kolokotrones Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and faculty at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. His team repurposes real world data into actionable evidence for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mental illness. Their work has contributed to shape health research methodology worldwide.
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Related Events
Future of Public Health in the age of AI
Join us on Monday, September 14th for a special Department of Epidemiology seminar featuring Dr. Karl Lauterbach.
Abstract: While the mainstream discourse surrounding artificial intelligence in medicine remains heavily focused on drug discovery, diagnostics, and curative care, these near-term promises often overshadow a more consequential frontier: prevention. This talk examines the paradigm shift toward preventive AI at both the individual and population levels. We will explore how predictive modeling, early risk stratification, and data-driven public health strategies can proactively reduce chronic disease burden, preserve quality of life, and address systemic health disparities—highlighting the most high-impact, evidence-based interventions on the horizon.
Bio: Karl Lauterbach is a German physician, health economist, and SPD politician currently serving as the chair of the Research Committee of the German parliament. From December 2021 to 2025, he served as Federal Minister of Health of Germany. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Department of Health Policy and Management of Harvard School of Public Health since 2008 and is a Professor of Health Economics and Epidemiology at the University of Cologne. His research has focused on chronic disease prevention and management, as well as health economics and policy, and he has held advisory roles including the Rürup Commission on social security financing. He has been a Member of the Bundestag since 2005 and served as Deputy Parliamentary Party Leader of the SPD from 2013 to 2020.
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Karl Lauterbach, Drmed, MPH
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Art@Countway Opening Reception: Do You See Me?
Please join us to celebrate the opening of our newest art exhibition:
Do You See Me?
Paintings of Postpartum Trauma and Healing
by S. Abbas Shobeiri
The opening reception will feature remarks by the artist, a guided tour of the exhibition, and light refreshments. All are welcome! Please RSVP in advance.
About the Exhibition
Presented through Countway’s Art@Countway initiative in partnership with GlobalMentalHealth@Harvard, this exhibition offers a deeply personal and moving journey through the emotional realities of postpartum trauma and recovery. Drawing upon nearly three decades of caring for women after childbirth, Dr. Shobeiri communicates his patients’ experiences through large-scale paintings that illuminate the often-overlooked physical and psychological effects of birth trauma, including postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Do You See Me? traces seven stages of postpartum trauma and recovery—from shock to renewal—bringing visibility to maternal experiences that too often remain unseen. Learn more about the exhibition and the artist at countway.info/see.
On view on the first floor of Countway Library from September 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027.
About the Artist
Dr. Shobeiri is an internationally recognized physician, researcher, educator, inventor, and professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical Education, and Biomedical Engineering. His pioneering exhibition first debuted in Washington, D.C., where it received national media attention, before traveling to additional institutions dedicated to medicine and the humanities.
Dr. Shobeiri was an artist before becoming a healer. He emphasizes the connection between mind and heart, soul and body. His paintings promote emotional literacy and break social taboos surrounding childbirth, depression, and PTSD-C. Drawing on decades of first-hand experience caring for mothers, he brings an empathetic lens to the maternal experience.
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S. Abbas Shobeiri, MD
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Bearing Witness: Children, Health, and Human Rights in the Face of Violence – A conversation across poetry, medicine and testimony
Join us at FXB for an in-person fireside chat on how poetry, medicine, and testimony can help us bear witness to the experiences of children affected by violence—and explore the profound consequences for health and human rights.
The conversation will feature Yale Artist-in-Residence Grzegorz Kwiatkowski and Dr. David Mills, Co-Director of FXB’s Palestine Program on Health and Human Rights and will be moderated by FXB’s Director of Research, Professor Jacqueline Bhabha.
HUID required. Lunch will be provided. Please register in advance.
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Grzegorz Kwiatkowski
Moderator
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Harvard Pop Center Hybrid Social Demography Seminar with Jung Hyun Kim
Jung Hyun Kim, PhD, David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, presents “From labor market institutions to individual workplaces: Rethinking the health effects of labor market conditions.”
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Harvard Pop Center Hybrid Social Demography Seminar with Tom Lindman
Tom Lindman, PhD, David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, presents “Paid family leave and parental health: New evidence from state programs.”
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Harvard Pop Center Social Demography Seminar with Christopher Muller
Christopher Michael Muller, PhD, professor of sociology at Harvard University, presents “When agricultural work disappeared: Mechanization and southern incarceration, 1945–1971.”
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Christopher Michael Muller, PhD
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Harvard Pop Center Hybrid Social Demography Seminar with Minjin Chae
Minjin Chae, PhD student in sociology at Harvard University and a graduate student affiliate at Harvard Pop Center, presents “When does gender trump flexibility? Workplace flexibility and domestic task assignment.”
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Climate Change and Planetary Health Concentration Kickoff Lunch
Climate change, air pollution, and ecological degradation have had extreme impacts on the health of our planet. Our ability to urgently and ambitiously implement climate crisis solutions will define public health outcomes for generations to come. The Climate Change and Planetary Health Concentration, will help you 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.
Join us for this kick-off and welcome lunch to learn more about the concentration. All Harvard Chan students are welcome.
Free pizza lunch will be provided.