Hosted by the GPH Department of Epidemiology
This event is part of the Epi Seminar Series
A Bayesian network (BN) is a probabilistic graphical model that represents a set of variables and their conditional dependencies via a directed acyclic graph (DAG). BNs can be constructed according to theoretical relationships among variables (e.g., causal pathways), or they can be learned from data (structure learning). In this talk, Dr. Raymond Niaura will demonstrate how BNs can be learned from data using the BayesiaLab suite of software tools applied to analysis of data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study. Resulting BNs can be used to identify potential confounders (common causes) and colliders (common effects), as well as to understand effects of conditioning on these (and other) variables in terms of isolating and estimating associations between specific exposures and outcomes.
About the Speaker
Dr. Raymond Niaura is a psychologist and an expert on tobacco dependence and treatment, as well as substance use and addiction to alcohol. Dr. Niaura researches the biobehavioral substrates of tobacco dependence, including factors that influence adolescent and early adult tobacco use trajectories. He also evaluates behavioral and pharmacological treatments for tobacco cessation, with a particular interest in cessation in disadvantaged population to address public health disparities in tobacco-related burdens of illness and disability.
For eight year, Dr. Niaura was the Director of Science and Training at the Schroeder Institute (SI) for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the Truth Initiative, where he also supervised the pre- and post-doctoral training programs. Dr. Niaura has previously taught and conducted research at Brown University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Georgetown Medical Center, and the School of Public Health at University of Maryland. He was also a former President of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco and is a Deputy Editor of the Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
With grants from the National Institutes of Health, numerous foundations, and private industry, Dr. Niaura has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles, commentaries, and book chapters, including the book The Tobacco Dependence Treatment Handbook: A Guide to Best Practices.