The limits of risk factors revisited: is it time for a causal architecture approach?

Epidemiology today stands at a juncture. Despite increasingly sophisticated methods and ever-greater pools of data, the core approaches inherent to, and the utility of, epidemiology are being questioned by a growing number of stakeholders. Big data, precision medicine, various -omics initiatives, technology-informed intervention, and other new research horizons leave open questions about where epidemiology does (and does not) fit in.

Join Professor Sandro Galea as he discusses the opportunities causal architecture approaches provide to epidemiology as a field, as compared to traditional risk factor and other methodological approaches.

US epidemiologist Professor Sandro Galea from Boston University is visiting Sydney and Melbourne as a guest of The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre. This event is also supported by the Australasian Epidemiological Association and UNSW Sydney's School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

Copies of Professor Galea's latest book Well: What we need to talk about when we talk about health will be available for sale at the venue. You can also order a copy in advance from the UNSW Bookshopwww.bookshop.unsw.edu.au/details.cgi?ITEMNO=9780190916831

Sandro Galea

Sandro Galea is considered one of the most important and innovative voices in American health and medicine.

A physician, epidemiologist and author, he is Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health. He has published more than 800 scientific journal articles, 50 chapters, and 15 books.

His latest book is Well: What we need to talk about when we talk about health. Galea was named one of Time Magazine’s epidemiology innovators and has been listed as one of the “World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds.” He has received several lifetime achievement awards and is regularly featured in the media.

Professor Galea holds a medical degree from the University of Toronto, graduate degrees from Harvard University and Columbia University, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow. He previously held academic and leadership positions at Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and the New York Academy of Medicine.

He is chair of the board of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health and past president of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science and. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Read more about Dean Galea’s work on his author website, https://www.sandrogalea.org/.