Resources Repository
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Resource PortalWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2024National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, founded in 1863, has a mission to provide …
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, founded in 1863, has a mission to provide nonpartisan, objective guidance for decision makers on policy challenges in the context of science, engineering, and medicine. NAS reports and convening activities have a wide range of impacts on policy and practice. They guide the development of federal laws and regulations, improve the effectiveness of government programs, shape the direction of research fields, and inform public knowledge and dialogue about…
Risk Analysis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Injuries/Accidents | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Global Governance | Climate/Environment | Energy/Engineering | Education/Labor | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Science/Technology | Global | North America | High School | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Policy Translation -
Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2016Scientific Evidence of Factual Causation
This module examines three scientific areas that provide evidence bearing on causation in the “toxic …
This module examines three scientific areas that provide evidence bearing on causation in the “toxic tort” or environmental disease context: epidemiology, toxicology, and genetics. These scientific disciplines are used in civil lawsuits and in regulatory proceedings in which causation or risk is an issue. The module is appropriate for non-scientist law students as well as others interested in learning the science of toxic tort causation, including practicing attorneys, judges, and public policy and public health…
Risk Analysis | Evidence Synthesis | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Food/Agriculture | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global | North America | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2016Identifying Cost-Effective Dynamic Policies to Control Epidemics
This paper describes a mathematical decision model for identifying dynamic health policies for controlling epidemics. …
This paper describes a mathematical decision model for identifying dynamic health policies for controlling epidemics. The dynamic policies aim to select the best current intervention based on accumulating epidemic data and the availability of resources at each decision point. An algorithm is proposed to approximate dynamic policies that optimize the population's net health benefit, a performance measure which accounts for both health and monetary outcomes. The authors further illustrate how dynamic policies can be defined and…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | Dynamic Transmission | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine -
ReportPublication 2016Modeling to Inform Strategies to Improve Population Health
This workshop report summarizes a workshop convened by the Institute of Medicine to explore the potential …
This workshop report summarizes a workshop convened by the Institute of Medicine to explore the potential uses of simulation and other types of modeling for improving health. Participants worked to identify how modeling could inform population health decision making (selecting and refining potential strategies, ranging from interventions to investments) based on lessons learned from models that have been, or have not been, used successfully, opportunities and barriers to incorporating models into decision making, and data needs and…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Microsimulation | Decision Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Climate/Environment | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America -
Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2016DNA Evidence: Case Study in Probabilities
This educational module on DNA evidence presents trial testimony, exhibits, and opinions in a case …
This educational module on DNA evidence presents trial testimony, exhibits, and opinions in a case in which federal courts at every level discerned “inaccuracies” in the testimony of a leading expert about probabilities associated with the DNA evidence. By embedding these legal materials in background explanations, critical questions, and short problems, the module supports self-study and class discussions that together can elucidate key principles in scientific reasoning and quantitative analysis and that can help students…
Risk Analysis | Probability/Bayes | Test Performance | Injuries/Accidents | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global | North America | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Quantitative Literacy -
Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2016Educational Module: Shale Gas Development
This module has been developed around the topic of the extraction of natural gas from …
This module has been developed around the topic of the extraction of natural gas from shale. This practice, commonly referred to as fracking, involves several practices that have complex and uncertain consequences. In the module, three scientific concepts are explored in order to elucidate how science is applied toward addressing real-world problems. The scientific concepts are: (1) correlation is not the same as causation, (2) hazard is not the same as risk, and (3) risk…
Risk Analysis | Probability/Bayes | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Climate/Environment | Energy/Engineering | Government/Law | Science/Technology | Global | North America | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership -
Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2016Educational Module: Drug-Induced Birth Defects
Using the currently topical issue of whether SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) anti-depressants cause birth …
Using the currently topical issue of whether SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) anti-depressants cause birth defects, the module aims to provide students with a general understanding of the following: (1) human risk factor causation as determined by epidemiologic methods; (2) the limits of non-human toxicological evidence to the assessment of causality in humans; (3) the importance of pharmacovigilance for all medications; (4) special difficulties in identifying causes of human birth defects; (5) the importance of…
Risk Analysis | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global | North America | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Quantitative Literacy -
Lesson/ModuleWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2016Educational Module: Vaccines
This module engages students in learning about association and causation in the context of vaccines, …
This module engages students in learning about association and causation in the context of vaccines, their side effects, and legal issues that could arise as a result of side effects associated with vaccinations. The module employs five case studies. In the first two case studies, a child receives a vaccination, and students must determine whether an event (vaccination) causes a side effect in the child. In the third case study, a child who has not…
Risk Analysis | Health Outcomes | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global | North America | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
ReviewPublication 2016Choosing an Epidemiological Model Structure for Economic Evaluation
This review presents a taxonomy of epidemiological model structures and applies it to the economic …
This review presents a taxonomy of epidemiological model structures and applies it to the economic evaluation of public health interventions for non-communicable diseases. Growing pressures on health services and on social care have led to a greater need for prevention of chronic diseases. In order for decision makers to make informed judgements about how to best spend finite public health resources, they must be able to quantify the anticipated costs, benefits, and opportunity costs of…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Dynamic Transmission | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Climate/Environment | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine