Hosted by the GPH Department of Biostatistics
Dietary intake is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with a disproportionate impact on low-income and racial/ethnic minorities. Characterization of dietary intake via dietary assessment tools (food frequency questionnaire, 24-hour dietary recalls) can often be quite complex due to the high-dimensional structure of the data. Further, dietary assessments that are sourced from national survey data add an additional layer of complexity with unequal probabilities of selection and response inherent to design.
In the presence of underrepresented subgroups and disproportionate sampling, questions remain on the generalizability of results obtained from these dietary snapshots. Dimension reduction techniques become inadequate when a single major demographic group can overshadow and dominate pattern details of smaller demographic groups. Further, analysis results are prone to bias when the complex survey design is not appropriately considered in the estimation of model parameters. Using dietary consumption data collected in large population-based survey cohorts, Dr. Briana Stephenson will discuss how Bayesian model-based clustering can provide flexible solutions to address the complexities of high dimensional exposures, like diet, to gain a deeper insight in its contribution to cardiovascular health disparities in the United States.
About the Speaker
Dr. Briana Stephenson is assistant professor of biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research has been primarily focused in using Bayesian methods to create innovative model-clustering techniques to address data complexities found in large, heterogenous populations. These methods were generated as a result of her collaborative research interests in maternal health, nutritional epidemiology, public health policy, and health disparities.
Non-NYU community members hoping to attend in person will need to provide us with the name of an NYU faculty or staff member who can serve as a sponsor. Please contact evan.wardell@nyu.edu if you're a non-NYU community member who'd like to attend in person. A virtual option is also available.