In this week’s Brief, we explore what data on the flu can tell us about Covid-19 counter-measures. Our course spotlight is
- July 31 – Sept 25: Biostatistics
See you in class!
Social Distancing and the Flu
The popular models for forecasting the spread of Covid-19 have parameters that account for social distancing mitigation, but is there an empirical way to measure the effect? Mike Thurber, a Senior Scientist here at Elder Research had the clever idea that the mitigation efforts must also be reducing the spread of influenza. He compared this year’s flu to prior years and found […]
Historical Spotlight
John Snow is popularly regarded as the founder of the field of epidemiology, with his famous study of cholera in London. H is also noted for administering chloroform to Queen Victoria when […]
Course Spotlight
July 31 – Sept 25: Biostatistics
This course requires some familiarity with basic statistics. Your instructor is Abhaya Indrayan, author of Medical Biostatistics (3rd ed., CRC Press). In part 1 (the 4-week Biostatistics 1 course), you will learn how to:
- Apply Bayes Rule to diagnostic tests
- Calculate the sensitivity, specificity, and positive/negative predictive value of a medical test
- Calculate large-sample and exact confidence intervals and p-values
- Conduct an ANOVA test
- Apply the Tukey and Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons
- Test for bioequivalence
In part 2 (the 4-week Biostatistics 2 course) you will learn how to:
- Design randomized clinical trials, including repeated measures and cross-over trials
- Determine and interpret ROC curves
- Calculate relative risk and odds ratios and their confidence intervals
- Explain and apply basic survival analysis models (censoring, Kaplan-Meier)
See you in class!
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