[DIV28SUPER] Summer Institute on Innovative Methods

Announcing the 2014 Methodology Center Summer Institute on Innovative Methods:

 

Experimental Design and Analysis Methods for Developing Adaptive Interventions: Getting SMART

 

We are pleased to announce that Drs. Daniel Almirall and Inbal "Billie" Nahum-Shani, Methodology Center researchers at the University of Michigan, will be teaching this year's Summer Institute on Innovative Methods, "Experimental Design and Analysis Methods for Developing Adaptive Interventions: Getting SMART."  Sponsored by Penn State'sMethodology Center and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the 19th Summer Institute will introduce adaptive interventions; provide the background needed to plan a sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial (SMART); and present the data analysis methods needed to construct adaptive interventions using SMART study data.

The institute will be held June 19-20, 2014, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Please visithttp://methodology.psu.edu/summerinstitute/ to learn more and submit your application. The deadline for applications isMarch 31.

 

Background

 

The management of many health disorders often entails a sequential, individualized approach whereby treatment is adapted and re-adapted over time in response to the specific needs and evolving status of the individual. Adaptive interventions provide one way to operationalize the strategies (e.g., continue, augment, switch, step-down) leading to individualized sequences of treatment. An adaptive intervention is a sequence of decision rules that specify whether, how or when (timing) to individualize treatment in the course of an individual's care. Often, a wide variety of critical questions must be answered when developing a high-quality adaptive intervention. Yet, there is often insufficient empirical evidence or theoretical basis to address these questions. The sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial (SMART)—a type of research design—was developed explicitly for the purpose of building high-quality adaptive interventions. SMART designs represent an attractive alternative to the standard randomized clinical trial when the overarching aim is to construct (as opposed to evaluate) a high-quality adaptive intervention.

Sample of Topics to be Covered

• When and why adaptive interventions are needed
• The critical components of adaptive interventions: decision points, tailoring variables, intervention options and decision rules
• SMART study principles, including how to provide a rationale for designing a SMART
• Data analytic strategies used to examine primary and secondary scientific aims in a SMART

In addition to the above topics, several hands-on computer exercises will be woven throughout the lecture, and time will be reserved for question/answer periods and open discussion.  

 

Learn More

 

http://methodology.psu.edu/summerinstitute/

Katie Bode-Lang, Assistant Director
The Methodology Center · Penn State University
400 Calder Square II · University Park, PA 16802
Phone: 814.867.0333 · kbodelang@psu.edu
Web: http://methodology.psu.edu