Deep Learning–Based Estimator for the Non-Iterative Conditional Expectation (NICE) g-Formula
Join us on Wednesday, October 22 for the “Works In Progress” Epidemiology Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Jing Li discussing Deep Learning–Based Estimator for the Non-Iterative Conditional Expectation (NICE) g-Formula.
Abstract: The g-formula can be used to estimate causal effects of sustained treatment strategies using observational data under the identifying assumptions of consistency, positivity, and exchangeability. The non-iterative conditional expectation (NICE) estimator of the g-formula also requires correct estimation of the conditional distribution of the time-varying treatment, confounders, and outcome. Parametric models, which have been traditionally used for this purpose, are subject to model misspecification, which may result in biased causal estimates, particularly in high-dimensional or nonlinear settings. To address these limitations, we propose a unified deep learning framework for the NICE g-formula that leverages recurrent neural networks to flexibly model the joint conditional distribution of time-varying variables. Through simulation studies, we demonstrate the advantages of the proposed deep learning–based estimator over conventional parametric approaches and establish its statistical validity through uncertainty quantification.
Bio: Dr. Jing Li is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CAUSALab in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, working under the mentorship of Prof. Miguel Hernán. Her research focuses on combining causal inference and machine learning to better understand the effects of treatments and interventions in complex longitudinal settings. Her current work includes advancing g-formula methods, developing deep learning techniques to improve the estimation of sustained treatment effects, and building large-scale simulation experiments to evaluate the performance of deep learning-based estimators. Her work has appeared in leading venues such as CVPR, ICLR, AAAI, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing (TIP), and NeurIPS workshops. In addition to academic publications, she is the primary developer of the open-source Python package pygformula, and also contributes to several other causal inference software packages, including gfoRmula and gfoRmulaICE. Jing Li received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Peking University, where she was advised by Prof. Yizhou Wang in the School of Computer Science. She received her bachelor’s degree in Statistics from the School of Mathematics and Statistics at Wuhan University.
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Jing Li, PhD
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Social Demography Seminar with John Wilmoth
John Wilmoth, PhD presents “The future of world population: Divergent trends, competing narratives, and the role of the United Nations.”
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John Wilmoth, PhD, Director, Population Division, United Nations
Organizers
Heat, Health and the City: Community, Housing, and Health System Solutions
The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) invites you to join us for this in-person breakout session as part of Harvard Climate Action Week. Breakout sessions are first come, first served. Please plan to arrive early to the session.
Extreme heat is an increasingly urgent public health problem in cities, where dense populations and built environments can intensify health risks for vulnerable communities. This panel will showcase how local initiatives are addressing public health and climate challenges related to extreme heat in urban environments. Panelists will discuss real-life strategies that connect scientific research to equitable interventions, aiming to protect health and reduce disparities in cities. The session will highlight related Harvard Chan research, including work in Boston’s redlined communities.
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Brown Bag Seminar: Could altruism end the HIV epidemic? Evidence from South Africa
Jacob Bor, ScD, is an associate professor in the departments of global health and epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. His research applies the analytical tools of economics and data science to the study of population health, and his research interests include HIV treatment and prevention in southern Africa, structural causes of health disparities in the U.S., and intersections of health, politics, and development. Prior to his graduate training at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Bor worked with an HIV-prevention NGO in Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa. He is a faculty affiliate of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center and senior research at the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office in South Africa.
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Jacob Bor
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From Signal to Noise: Addressing Multiplicity Using the Exposome-Neurodevelopment Example
Join us on Wednesday, October 8 for the Epidemiology Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Stefania Papatheodorou discussing From Signal to Noise: Addressing Multiplicity Using the Exposome-Neurodevelopment Example.
Abstract: In epidemiologic research, investigators frequently examine numerous concurrent environmental exposures and outcomes within a single study. However, the degree of multiplicity involved is often underreported or unclear. The question of how to appropriately handle multiplicity—whether during study design, statistical analysis, or in the communication of findings—remains a subject of considerable debate. This issue becomes even more pressing in exposome research, where the potential number of exposures is vast and continuously growing. Since causality cannot be reliably inferred solely from the presence of statistically significant associations, it is crucial to enhance transparency around multiplicity. Doing so helps mitigate the risk of spurious associations and strengthens the credibility of reported findings. This talk will explore these concepts through an example on ambient exposome and neurodevelopmental delays, and it will outline future directions to improve methodological rigor and reproducibility across life sciences.
Bio: Stefania Papatheodorou, MD, PhD, MSc, is an Associate Professor in Epidemiology at Rutgers School of Public Health and a trained obstetrician and gynecologist. Her research lies at the intersection of extreme weather, air pollution, pregnancy, and children’s health. She has been the primary investigator on multiple epidemiological studies examining the association between prenatal exposure to extreme weather, air pollutants, and adverse pregnancy and childhood outcomes. Her research utilizes a wide range of administrative data sources, such as electronic health records, birth registries, and claims data. She is currently focused on examining the effects of prenatal and early childhood exposure to extreme weather and air pollutants on children’s neurodevelopmental outcomes.
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Stefania Papatheodorou, MD, PhD, MSc
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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 shifting demands, burnout, and evolving care models, how are health care organizations rethinking workforce strategy? Join this panel of leaders in workforce development, human resources, and academia as they share insights on building a more resilient, adaptive, and sustainable health care workforce.
Registerfor 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
Karen Donelan
Kara Greer
Joanne Pokaski
Moderator
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.
Prostate Cancer Screening: What’s Gone Wrong? What Can We Get Right?
Join us on Wednesday, October 29 for the Epidemiology Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Kevin Kensler discussing Prostate Cancer Screening: What’s Gone Wrong? What Can We Get Right?
Abstract: Prostate cancer screening is at a crossroads. Despite evidence that screening prostate-specific antigen (PSA) can reduce advanced disease and mortality, current practices too often overscreen older men while underserving those at highest risk. This seminar will examine where prostate cancer screening has gone wrong and highlight opportunities for more targeted, equitable approaches to early detection.
Bio: Kevin Kensler, ScD, MHS, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine and member of the Cancer Prevention and Control program at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. His research focuses on prostate cancer epidemiology, with emphasis on screening, disparities, survivorship, and molecular heterogeneity. He has examined how changes in screening guidelines have shaped trends in advanced disease, particularly across socioeconomic and racial groups, and uses large-scale population and clinical data to study risk and prognosis. Collectively, his research aims to guide policies and interventions that advance equitable and personalized approaches to prostate cancer prevention and early detection.
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Kevin Kensler, ScD, MHS
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Virtues for Well-being: A Seminar with Dr. Richard Davidson
All are welcome to join us for the fourth installment in our seminar series on Wednesday, February 11th, 2026, from 1-1:50 PM, in FXB G13 or online.
Speaker Biography
Our speaker, Dr. Richard Davidson, is the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds. He is best known for his groundbreaking work studying emotion and the brain. A friend and confidante of the Dalai Lama, he is a highly sought after expert and speaker, leading conversations on wellbeing on international stages such as the World Economic Forum, where he serves on the Global Council on Mental Health. Time Magazine named Davidson one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2006.
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Dr. Richard Davidson
Organizers
Raising Caring, Moral, and Thriving Children
On Wednesday, November 12th, 2025, from 1-1:50 PM in FXB G12 and online, all are welcome to join us for the third installment in our Virtues for Well-being seminar series. This event will feature Richard Weissbourd, Director of the Making Caring Common Project and Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Event Description
This talk will take up how we can raise caring, moral children in today’s world. Richard Weissbourd will make the case that the intense focus on achievement and happiness in child-raising has crowded out attention to children’s moral development and that all the focus on happiness is, ironically, making children less happy. He will offer concrete ideas for how we can raise children who are both moral and likely to thrive. Weissbourd will also take up how moral failures in our public life pose specific threats to moral development and how we can mitigate these harms and develop in children key capacities they will need to strengthen our communities and democracy.
Speaker Biography
Richard Weissbourd is a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and he also teaches at the Kennedy School of Government. His work focuses on moral development, meaning, and purpose, mental health challenges among teens and young adults, and effective schools and services for children facing risks. He directs the Making Caring Common Project, a national effort to make moral and social development priorities in child-raising, and to provide strategies to schools and parents for promoting in children caring, a commitment to justice and other key moral and social capacities. He leads an initiative to reform college admissions, Turning the Tide, which seeks to elevate ethical character, reduce excessive achievement pressure, and increase equity and access in the college admissions process. He is also conducting research on how older adults can better mentor young adults and teenagers in developing caring, mature romantic relationships.
He is a founder of several interventions for children facing risks, including ReadBoston and WriteBoston, city-wide literacy initiatives that were led by Mayor Menino. He is also a co-founder of a pilot school in Boston, the Lee Academy, that begins with children at 3 years old. He has advised on the city, state and federal levels on family policy, parenting and school reform and has written for numerous scholarly and popular publications and blogs, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today and NPR. He is the author of The Vulnerable Child: What Really Hurts America’s Children and What We Can Do About It (Addison-Wesley, 1996), named by the American School Board Journal as one of the top 10 education books of all time. His most recent book, The Parents We Mean to Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children’s Moral and Emotional Development (Houghton Mifflin 2009), was named by The New Yorker as one of the top 24 books of 2009.
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Richard Weissbourd
Organizers
The Science of Sustainable Giving: How Empathy and Generosity Support Health and Flourishing
On October 15th, 2025, we held the second seminar in our Virtues for Well-being series. Social psychologist Dr. Sara Konrath presented, “The Science of Sustainable Giving: How Empathy and Generosity Support Health and Flourishing.”
Event Description
Many of us devote our time, energy, care, and resources to supporting others—whether through helping family and friends, volunteering in our communities, offering empathy in daily interactions, or giving financially. But what are the implications of these generous behaviors for our own well-being, social connections, and physical health? This talk explores the growing body of interdisciplinary research on empathy and generosity, focusing on how different forms of giving—emotional, practical, and financial—shape not only the lives of recipients but also the givers themselves. Drawing on findings from psychology, public health, and neuroscience, as well as new data from the 2025 World Happiness Report co-authored by Dr. Konrath, we will examine how and when generosity enhances flourishing. The session will offer guidance for how to give with intention, boundaries, and joy, with practical, evidence-based strategies for giving and caring in sustainable, rather than depleting, ways. By approaching empathy and generosity as both a science and an art, this talk invites attendees to reflect on their own giving practices and to discover how empathy and generosity—when wisely offered—can serve as powerful contributors to their own and others’ wellbeing.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Sara Konrath is a social psychologist and Director of the Interdisciplinary Program on Empathy and Altruism Research at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. Her research examines the development, benefits, and promotion of empathy, generosity, and social connection. She has documented generational trends in empathy and narcissism, and linked empathy and giving to well-being and health. Konrath has developed innovative digital tools to increase empathy and partnered with educators, physicians, fundraisers, dating apps, zoos, and museums to evaluate empathy-based interventions. She has published over 100 scientific papers and delivered 300+ presentations, including at SouthXSouthwest and the Aspen Ideas Institute. She is a co-author of the 2025 World Happiness Report, co-organizer of the annual Science of Philanthropy Initiative conference, and has been an editor for leading psychology and nonprofit studies journals. Her work is regularly featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, The Atlantic, NPR, BBC, and CBC.
Speaker Information
Dr. Sara Konrath