CAsToR (Center for the Assessment of Tobacco Regulations) will offer a limited number of scholarships for participation in EPID 730 Simulation Modeling of Tobacco Use, Health Effects and Policy Impacts. In addition, scholarships can fund participation in EPID 793 Complex Systems Modeling for Public Health Research, an introductory course on modeling and public health research, which will be offered during the week prior to EPID 730. Scholarships will only be considered for EPID 793 for those who are also applying for scholarships for EPID730.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these courses will now be offered in an online format.
EPID 793 Complex Systems Modeling for Public Health Research (2 credit hours) Marisa Eisenberg, Michael Hayashi WEEK 2 (JULY 19-23)
EPID 730 Simulation Modeling of Tobacco Use, Health Effects and Policy Impacts (2 credit hours) Rafael Meza and Jihyoun Jeon WEEK 3 (JULY 26-30)
"The Center for the Assessment of Tobacco Regulations (CAsToR) is pleased to announce the availability of scholarships for a short course on tobacco simulation modeling (EPID 730) to be offered during the University of Michigan Summer Session in Epidemiology (SSE) Program in 2021.
The course will provide an introductory overview of computational modeling techniques with examples in Tobacco Regulatory Science, discussions of best practices, and hands-on lab experience in which students will develop their own simulation models. At the completion of the course, students will be able to explain the contributions of simulation modeling in Tobacco Regulatory Science, and describe advantages and disadvantages of common modeling approaches. Students will explore how to incorporate simulation modeling into their own Tobacco Regulatory Science research and participate in interdisciplinary teams that use modeling techniques.
The deadline to apply is April 7th, 2021, and applicants are asked to wait to apply to the SSE program until after receiving notification of the scholarship funding decision in late April.
Please see announcement for more information.
EPID 793 Complex Systems Modeling for Public Health Research
(2 credit hours) Marisa Eisenberg, Michael Hayashi
This course will provide an introduction to two major complex systems science modeling techniques with wide applicability to public health. We will cover an introductory overview of complex systems modeling in general, and systems dynamics and agent-based modeling in particular. We will discuss model applications, best practices, and more advanced practical topics such as team-building, computation, funding, and publication. We will provide extensive hands-on lab experience during each section of the course. At the completion of the course the student will be able to explain current and potential future roles of complex systems science in public health, describe the respective advantages/disadvantages of each method covered, and will be expected to produce a draft proposal for applying one of the two system science methods to a particular problem. Students will become informed consumers of complex systems research, will be prepared to actively participate in interdisciplinary teams using the modeling techniques, and will be well positioned to incorporate systems science methods into their own research. Prerequisite: Relevant background in public health.
EPID 730 Simulation Modeling of Tobacco Use, Health Effects and Policy Impacts
(2 credit hours) Rafael Meza and Jihyoun Jeon
This course will introduce students to the use of simulation modeling to assess the burden of tobacco use on health, and project the impact of tobacco control interventions and regulations on use patterns and downstream health effects. The course will provide an overview of state transition and dynamical system models, their application in public health and policy making, and the use of simulation modeling in tobacco control. Students will learn about the main tobacco simulation models in the literature, become familiar with state transition and dynamical system models, and develop and implement their own smoking simulation models in the R statistical software or Excel. The course will be a combination of lectures by leading experts in the field, modeling lectures, and hands-on lab sessions. Prerequisite: Either tobacco epidemiology or tobacco control knowledge, or familiarity with modeling. For those without modeling background, we recommend taking Epid 793 Complex Systems Modeling course first. Students should have basic statistical or epidemiology knowledge.
