Instructors
Prof. Fulvia Mecatti
Fulvia Mecatti has a PhD in Methodological Statistics from University of Trento and is professor of Statistics at University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. Her main research interests are in Sampling Theory, Resampling, Gender Statistics and Causal Inference in medical observational studies. She has a long experience in teaching Statistics in social sciences programs and to non-technical publics. She is former director of the PhD program in Statistics at University of Milano-Bicocca and former president of S2G-Survey Sampling Group of the Italian Statistical Society. Currently she is serving as an elected member in the board of Italian Statistical Society and in the COVID-19 working group of the European Federation of National Statistical Societies (FENStatS).
Prof. Clelia Di Serio
Clelia Di Serio has a PhD in Methodological Statistics from University of Trento and is full professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at San Raffaele University Hospital and Swiss University (Lugano). She is founder and director of CUSSB-University Center for Statistics in the Biomedical Sciences (www.cussb.unisr.it). Her main research interests are in biostatistics both theoretical and applied, bioinformatics, statistical genetics and causal inference in medical observational studies. She is former president of the Italian Region of International Biometric Society. Currently she is Representative Council Member for IBS and responsible and representative for Italy in the IBS Committee on Communications. Since 2016 she is Co-Director of the Master Program in Cognitive Psychology in Health Communication of Swiss University. In 2020 nominated fellow of Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere.
Course description
The course is an introduction to effectively communicating, to general audiences, complex statistical modelling and estimation related to Covid-19 data. The instruction will be at a beginner level. The 6 hours course is split in 2 days and will cover “Basics of effective communication to a general audience” on day 1 and “Introduction to estimation and modelling of covid-19 data: prevalence, incidence, epi-curves, transmissibility and reproduction numbers” on day 2. Classes will include stop&go discussion upon broadcasting of video-recorded interviews with experts and professionals in media monitoring and communication of health data. A student assignment is scheduled at the end of day 1 lessons with feedback on day 2 for shared learning.
Target audience
Students, early career researchers and professionals with basic background in statistics and at beginner level in epidemiology.
Syllabus
- Day 1, 3 hours (1h 20m units with 20m break)
- Introduction to the short course
- Lesson “Basics of effective communication to a general audience”
- Interview with the professional: “Communicating covid-19 data”
- Q&A session and Activity time (real time polls and quick quiz),
- Student Assignment
- Day 2, 3 hours (1h 20m units with 20m break)
- Recap & Feedback from Day 1
- Lesson “Introduction to estimation and modelling of covid-19 data: prevalence, incidence, epi-curves, transmissibility and reproduction numbers”
- Interview with the expert: “Communicating covid-19 data”
- Discussion & Activity time (real time polls and quick quiz)
- Feedback on Student Assignment
Required software
PowerPoint presentations for online classes .
Pre-registered videos broadcasting for stop&go discussion.
Chat and Q&A session (unless otherwise available).
Real time polls, quick quiz, engagement & feedback.
