Online Registration is now being accepted for Epi on the Island 2012.
Module 1 June 20–22, 2012
"Network analysis course"
Instructors:
Dr. Caroline Dubé DMV MS PhD, Veterinary Epidemiologist and Scientific Advisor, Animal Health Risk Assessment Unit, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Montreal, Canada.
Dr. Caryl Lockhart DMV MSc PhD FAO/GLEWS, Veterinary Epidemiologist (Spatial and Network analyses) Animal Production and Health Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
Course Content:
This course is designed to provide participant with a practical guide to conducting basic of Social Network analyses in Veterinary Medicine using UCINET. At the end of the course the participants should have developed a set of skills to design/conduct Network analyses studies, manipulate and describe the data gathered. Participants will be provided with basic concepts of Network theory, examples of networks and descriptive measures of networks and interpretation.
The course will focus on the practical aspects of network data management, and network data visualization using UCINET. Other software like R used in network analyses will also be introduced.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own data so that they have an opportunity to practice some of the concepts covered in the course with their own data.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Caroline Dubé is an epidemiologist and scientific advisor with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) working in the Animal Health Risk Assessment Unit. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DMV) from the University of Montreal in 2000, a Masters of Science degree from Colorado State University in 2002 and a PhD in Population Medicine from the University of Guelph in 2009. Dr Dubé’s work involves the use of simulation modelling and network analysis to support policy formulation for foreign animal diseases. She has been a member of the North American Animal Disease Spread Model (NAADSM) development team since 2003, and is also a member of the QUADS EpiTeam (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States) and the North American Modelling Team (Canada, Mexico and the United States). She has been involved in the analysis of livestock movements in Argentina, Chile, and Canada. Her recent projects involve the simulation of the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in various areas of Canada in order to assess the benefits of traceability and the impacts of vaccination as a control measure.
Dr. Caryl Lockhart is a Veterinary Epidemiologist working with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy. She has worked as a Veterinary Epidemiologist with The FAO H5N1 HPAI Avian Influenza Control Programme in Indonesia and the FAO Caribbean Amblyomma Programme (CAP) in Antigua, and a veterinarian with The Ministry of Agriculture in Dominica, West Indies. Dr. Lockhart obtained a PhD in Veterinary Epidemiology at the Epicentre, Massey University in 2009. She also holds a DMV in veterinary medicine from the Instituto Superior de Ciencias Medicas de Habana in Cuba and an MSc in tropical livestock production from the Universidad Pedro Henriquez Urena in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Lockhart has experience conducting surveys to examine contact patterns using social network analyses in the poultry Industries of Indonesia and New Zealand and designing risk based surveillance approaches.
=============================================================
Module 2 June 25–28, 2012
“Diagnostic Test Evaluation – with Emphasis on Latent Class Analysis”
Instructor:
Dr. Nils Toft MSc, PhD, Professor in Quantitative Epidemiological Decision Support, Department of Large Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
Course Content:
The course covers the epidemiological aspects of diagnostic test evaluation studies – from the technical aspects of planning, conducting and subsequently analyzing data from such studies, to the underlying assumptions regarding disease definitions, test characteristics and the implications of using a perfect reference tests vs. a latent class approach. The design and analysis of latent class models for test evaluation without a perfect reference test (i.e. a ‘gold’ standard) will be the main focus of the course. The participants will be introduced to Latent Class Analysis (LCA) in a Bayesian framework using OpenBUGS.
Through a mixture of lectures/discussion of the theory and biological implications and exercises/tutorial based on published examples, the course participants will be exposed to the necessary concepts and ideas of LCA as well as gain working skills in using OpenBUGS and the presented examples to explore the possibilities of diagnostic test evaluation using LCA methods. The course will present models at population and individual based levels, including models that include covariates affecting the test characteristics. Also models where the primary purpose is not test evaluation will be presented and discussed. Participants are encouraged to bring their own data so that they have an opportunity to analyze these using the models presented in the course.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Nils Toft is a Professor in Quantitative Epidemiological Decision Support at the Department of Large Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen. He has an MSc in mathematics and economics and a PhD in decision support systems in pig production. Since 2001 he has been working within Veterinary Epidemiology doing quantitative research and teaching. His primary research interests have been and continue to be diagnostic tests evaluations (DTE), particularly developing latent class methods for DTE in the absence of a ‘gold standard’ and general application of Latent Class Models, particularly using Bayesian Analysis. Improvements in designing, planning, analyzing and presenting DTEs as well as the use generalized methods for use of diagnostic information are also major research interest for him.
He is internationally recognized as an expert in Latent Class Analysis and has collaborated with people from all over the world to promote and explore the possibilities of latent class analysis in areas such as chronic diseases, highly infectious disease, metabolic sub-clinical disorders and welfare assessments. His current research interests focus on the general effect of misclassification on the known methodologies such as infectious disease modeling, risk factor studies as well as the continued improvement of use of diagnostic test information through coupling of information from multiple sources and repeated measurements.
===========================================================
Conference participants are responsible for booking their own accommodations.
The UPEI Campus offers residence rooms to conference participants. Choose from one of three UPEI residences, each with its own unique style and amenities. Residence accommodations include free parking, local telephone access, a bed linen and towel exchange service, and 24 hour security. For information on reserving rooms on campus, please visit the UPEI Conference Services website here.
A special conference rate has also been put in place for Epi on the Island Participants at three city hotels.
The Best Western Charlottetown offers special rates, as listed here.
Rodd Hotels and Resorts offers special rates at their Rodd Charlottetown and Rodd Royalty locations. Please click here for more information.
==========================================================
Tourism Prince Edward Island Visitors Guide 2012
