TRAINING SCHOOL IN ROME
3-day Course in Rome: Statistical and epidemiological issues in human biomonitoring studies: An hCOMET course
February 28th, 1st and 2nd of March 2018, Rome, Italy, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Via di Val Cannuta 247/249
Organiser: Stefano Bonassi - email: stefano.bonassi@sanraffaele.it
Participants:
Austria - Franziska Ferk
Croatia - Goran Gajski
Czech Republic - Anna Alaxinová; Katarína Bányiová; Katerina Honkova; Alena Opattova; Sona Vodenkova
France - Elisa Boutet-Robinet; Bertrand Pourrut
Hungary - Mariam Kachlek
Italy - Alessia Santoro; Palma Lamonaca; Giulia Prinzi; Stefania Proietti
Norway - Lena Sareisian
Poland - Magdalena Matysiak-Kucharek
Portugal - Armanda Teixeira Gomes; Carina Ladeira; Joana Madureira
Spain - Vanessa Valdiglesias; Blanca Laffon; Amaya Azqueta
UK - Natassia Robinson
Instructors:
Stefano Bonassi (Italy)
Sabine Langie (Belgium)
Monica Neri (France)
Mirta Milić (Croatia)
Roger Godschalk (Netherlands)
Carlo Tomino (Italy)
The training course will be a combination of theoretical (lecture) and practical knowledge (hands-on training) and will cover specific topics:
Study design (1st day, duration: 7 hrs):
- Choice of the best biomarker, biological and mechanistic issues;
- Literature review;
- Practical arrangements in biomarkers studies (choice of the best tissue, specimen collection and storage), most common biases, timing, operators training, etc;
- Exposure assessment;
- Inclusion/exclusion criteria, ethical issues (consensus, privacy, risk comunication), sample size, observational or intervention studies, choice of controls (biological, exposure, and epidemiological issues);
- Questionnaires: planning, validation, alfa cronbach, quali-quantitative variables.
Data analysis (2nd day, duration: 7 hrs):
- Concept of sample and population, statistical significance, hypothesis testing, univariate analysis, multivariable analysis, statistics with biomarkers;
- Statistical analysis of the alkaline comet assay data for DNA damage assessment, also with the use of enzymes for evaluating specific DNA damage (e.g. ENDO III, hOGG1, FPG) and the assessment of DNA repair;
- Statistical packages most often used for data management and statistical analysis of biomedical data.
Practical exercise (3rd day,duration 6 hrs):
Planning, design and statistical analysis of a hypothetically exposed population.Participants divided into three study groups will apply - with the help of teachers - the concepts presented in the first two days, e.g. choice of the biomarker(s), organization of the study, ethical issues, sample size, exposure assessment, choice of controls, to assemble the protocol of a biomonitoring study in the population proposed. The exercise will include also basic statistical analysis of a pre-arranged dataset.
Lectures from the course:
Molecular EPI 28 Feb 9.30-10.00
Choice of Biomarkers 28 Feb 10.00 - 11.00
Study design 28 February 11.15-12.15
Reporting STROBE-ME 28 Feb 12.15-13.15
Exposure assessment 18 Feb 18 14.30-15.30
Epidemiological and Statistical issues 28 Feb 18 15.30-16.30
Questionnaires 28 Feb 16.30-17.30
Describing data 1 March 9.00-10.00
Statistical inference 1 March 10.00-11.00
Statistical testing 1 March 11.15-12.15
Statistical analysis comet assay 1 March 12.15-13.15
Statistical packages 1 March 14.30-15.30
