What? Workshop of the Working Group on Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases and the Cross-Sectional Initiative on Causal Analysis
When? Thursday, 22.01. to Friday, 23.01.2026 (full day, face-to-face event)
Where? Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg, Germany
Causal analysis (CA) provides powerful methods for designing epidemiologic studies and deriving causal inferences from observational data on health interventions. In our first workshop in December 2024, we introduced the basic principles of causal analysis and explored the application of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) and the simulation of target studies.
In this face-to-face follow-up workshop, we build on the basics and introduce the three g-methods: the parametric g-formula, marginal structural models (MSM) with inverse probability weighting (IPTW) and nested structural models (SNM) with g-estimation. We practice the application with a focus on MSMs in practical exercises and data analysis with the statistical software R.
In a group project, participants develop a study protocol that addresses a complex research question in the field of infectious diseases (e.g. HPV vaccination, HIV therapy) using the cloning-censoring-weighting method. In addition, we offer consultation hours where you can discuss your research questions, study designs and suitable analysis methods. To make the best use of these offers, please send us a brief description of your research question or project in advance together with your registration.
The lectures will be given by Uwe Siebert and Lára Hallsson from the UMIT TIROL – University of Applied Health Sciences and Technology in Hall in Tirol, Austria.
Prerequisites: As this workshop builds on the first workshop, basic knowledge of CI methods is assumed or participation in the first workshop is desired. The first session on the first day (22.01.2026, 10:00 to 12:00) is an optional review session on DAGs. Please bring your laptops with R software installed.
The workshop is sponsored by DGEpi and gmds and is free of charge.
Please register by 17.12.2025 at https://bit.ly/CIandIDEpiWorkshop.
Best regards from the organization team
Veronika Jäger, Manuela Harries, Ralf Krumkamp, Lára Hallsson and Uwe Siebert
You can find more information here and in the information flyer.