Ghazaleh Dashti
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ghazalehd.bsky.social
Ghazaleh Dashti
@ghazalehd.bsky.social
Snr Research Fellow in Biostatistics at Murdoch Children's Research Institute & UniMelb, research in causal inference & missing data methods, also in child/ adolescent/ intergenerational health, cancer, & social epidemiology (she/her)

On Wurundjeri land
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
NEW PAPER!!! "Causal Machine Learning Methods and Use of Cross‐Fitting in Settings With High‐Dimensional Confounding"

led by Susie Ellul, with Stijn Vansteelandt & John Carlin
Published in Stats in Med

Check it out 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

#EpiSky #CausalSky
Causal Machine Learning Methods and Use of Cross‐Fitting in Settings With High‐Dimensional Confounding
Observational epidemiological studies commonly seek to estimate the causal effect of an exposure on an outcome. Adjustment for potential confounding bias in modern studies is challenging due to the p...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
NEW PAPER! (in press in EPIDEMIOLOGY)

Have you wondered:
- How to specify a target trial: as an ideal trial or something else?
- What biases do target trial emulations and actual RCTs share?
- How does it all relate to potential outcomes?

Read here! 👉 arxiv.org/abs/2405.10026
#EpiSky #CausalSky
The ideal trial: defining causal estimands that balance relevance and feasibility in target trial emulations and actual randomized trials
Causal inference is the goal of randomized trials and many observational studies. The first step in a formal causal inference framework is to define the causal estimand, and in both types of study thi...
arxiv.org
September 9, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Recording of my talk @causalab.bsky.social on using m-DAGs to guide the treatment of missing data now available 👇 #EpiSky #CausalSky
Check out the last Methods Series talk now on YouTube:
youtu.be/QuQnZ4don54?...
2 weeks away!

@margaritamb.bsky.social (Murdoch Children's Research Institute, University of Melbourne) continues the 2025 Methods Series @ki.se.

📆 April 22, 2025
⏰ 13.00 CEST/7.00 ET
📍 All Methods Series talks virtual

Register now 👇
stats.sender.net/forms/e7JD1d...
#publichealth #causalinference
April 23, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
2/ The methodology uses interventional effects mapped to a “target trial” assessing the treatment strategies of interest, as proposed here tinyurl.com/yztb2hxs
Mediation effects that emulate a target randomised trial: Simulation-based evaluation of ill-defined interventions on multiple mediators - Margarita Moreno-Betancur, Paul Moran, Denise Becker, George ...
Many epidemiological questions concern potential interventions to alter the pathways presumed to mediate an association. For example, we consider a study that i...
tinyurl.com
July 10, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
🚨New method! So proud to see work led by @cttc101.bsky.social w/ @margaritamb.bsky.social @ghazalehd.bsky.social now available as an R package 📦
A powerful tool for estimating intervention effects via multiple mediators w/real examples to guide you!
Check it out ⬇️
#epitwitter #causaltwitter #rstats
1/ NEW R PACKAGE! For estimating the impact of potential interventions on multiple mediators in countering exposure effects (led by @cttc101.bsky.social)

- Paper👉 tinyurl.com/ye26jsps
- Package👉 tinyurl.com/yuh4kens

Thread shows published examples of how the method can be used! #EpiSky #CausalSky
tinyurl.com
July 10, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
1/ NEW R PACKAGE! For estimating the impact of potential interventions on multiple mediators in countering exposure effects (led by @cttc101.bsky.social)

- Paper👉 tinyurl.com/ye26jsps
- Package👉 tinyurl.com/yuh4kens

Thread shows published examples of how the method can be used! #EpiSky #CausalSky
tinyurl.com
July 10, 2025 at 1:30 AM
📢 New Commentary: We discuss how analytic choices impact interpretation of studies on socioeconomic health inequities. We review 1) descriptive analogues of causal estimands (à la Young et al) with competing events; 2) timescale choice; and 3) covariate adjustment.
👉 academic.oup.com/aje/advance-...
Invited commentary: Descriptive social epidemiology: putting the question before the methods
Abstract. In studies describing socioeconomic inequities in health outcomes, the choice of estimand and the planned analytic approach are central to the in
academic.oup.com
May 1, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Looking forward to speaking at the CAUSALab methods seminar series next week! 👇
2 weeks away!

@margaritamb.bsky.social (Murdoch Children's Research Institute, University of Melbourne) continues the 2025 Methods Series @ki.se.

📆 April 22, 2025
⏰ 13.00 CEST/7.00 ET
📍 All Methods Series talks virtual

Register now 👇
stats.sender.net/forms/e7JD1d...
#publichealth #causalinference
April 15, 2025 at 10:50 PM
📣 📣NEW PAPER providing guidance on best practice for using multiple imputation when estimating interventional mediation effects, considering missingness mechanism, multiple imputation model specification, & variance estimation
#CausalSky #EpiSky

Read more 👇🏽
journals.lww.com/epidem/abstr...
Handling multivariable missing data in causal mediation... : Epidemiology
miologic studies. However, guidance is lacking on best practice for using multiple imputation when estimating interventional mediation effects, specifically regarding the role of missingness mechanism...
journals.lww.com
April 2, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
"Using missingness directed acyclic graphs (m-DAGs) to guide the treatment of multivariable missing data in epidemiological studies"

Don't miss the next #CIIG seminar with @margaritamb.bsky.social on 7th April 2025 at *9am* BST!

Register at: turing-uk.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

#EpiSky #CausalSky
March 26, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Our next Introduction to Biostatistics course will take place over 5 half days 9am -12.30pm on 24-28 March 2025 at @MCRI_for_kids. Read more and register here: www.mcri.edu.au/research/res... Reduced rates available for internal and LMIC participants, reach out: cebu.admin@mcri.edu.au
Introduction to Biostatistics - Murdoch Children's Research Institute
www.mcri.edu.au
March 12, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Seminar announcement🗣️

Prof Kelley Kidwell (Uni of Michigan): SMARTer Trials: Integrating Patient Treatment Preferences for Pragmatic Multi-Stage Trial Design & Analyses

27 Mar, 9:30am AEDT
Online + in person @ Monash SPHPM, Melbourne

Details - www.vicbiostat.org.au/seminars
February 27, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Huge congratulations to our co-director @margaritamb.bsky.social for receiving an #NHMRC investigator grant to further her research work in #causalinference research !! 🥂🎉
Thrilled to have received this funding for my causal inference research program - with my amazing team we shall continue to advance methods and provide expertise in this key area for another 5 years!!! 🥳☺️ #CausalSky #EpiSky
Exciting Monday news with two of our brilliant researchers awarded NHMRC Investigator Grants 🎊

Congratulations Margarita Moreno-Betancur @margaritamb.bsky.social and Julie Simpson @julieasimpson50.bsky.social

More:
www.vicbiostat.org.au/news

@mischhub.bsky.social @cebu-melbourne.bsky.social
February 25, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Exciting Monday news with two of our brilliant researchers awarded NHMRC Investigator Grants 🎊

Congratulations Margarita Moreno-Betancur @margaritamb.bsky.social and Julie Simpson @julieasimpson50.bsky.social

More:
www.vicbiostat.org.au/news

@mischhub.bsky.social @cebu-melbourne.bsky.social
News
www.vicbiostat.org.au
February 24, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Thrilled to have received this funding for my causal inference research program - with my amazing team we shall continue to advance methods and provide expertise in this key area for another 5 years!!! 🥳☺️ #CausalSky #EpiSky
Exciting Monday news with two of our brilliant researchers awarded NHMRC Investigator Grants 🎊

Congratulations Margarita Moreno-Betancur @margaritamb.bsky.social and Julie Simpson @julieasimpson50.bsky.social

More:
www.vicbiostat.org.au/news

@mischhub.bsky.social @cebu-melbourne.bsky.social
News
www.vicbiostat.org.au
February 24, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Another successful workshop from our missing data methods research group ✔️Led by Margarita Moreno-Betancur @margaritamb.bsky.social, with presenters Kate Lee, Ghazaleh Dashti @ghazalehd.bsky.social, Jiaxin Zhang, Cattram Nguyen, Melissa Middleton and Jessica Xu.

Thank you to all who came along!
February 12, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Our research methods and software training course timetable for 2025 is out! check it out here 👇 www.mcri.edu.au/research/res...
CEBU course timetable - Murdoch Children's Research Institute
2025 CEBU course timetable at MCRI. Enhance your research skills with our short courses in clinical research methods, data management, and statistical analysis.
www.mcri.edu.au
February 11, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
We're off and away with Summer School 2025!

Jonathan Sterne @jonathanasterne.bsky.social is leading our Advanced causal inference course, ably assisted by tutors Ghazaleh Dashti @ghazalehd.bsky.social, Marnie Downes, Daisy Shepherd and Jiaxin Zhang from CEBU.
February 10, 2025 at 4:23 AM
NEW COMMENTARY in Epidemiology on causal estimands in studies of pre-diagnostic exposures and cancer survival

#EpiSkye #CausalSky

journals.lww.com/epidem/citat...
Pre-diagnostic exposures and cancer survival: Can a... : Epidemiology
An abstract is unavailable. This article is available as a PDF only.
journals.lww.com
January 30, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Hot off the press! 📣📣In this tutorial we illustrate available multiple imputation approaches for handling longitudinal data including when they are clustered within higher level clusters. A reproducible example with R and Stata code provided! #OpenAccess

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Multiple Imputation for Longitudinal Data: A Tutorial
Longitudinal studies are frequently used in medical research and involve collecting repeated measures on individuals over time. Observations from the same individual are invariably correlated and thu....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 27, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
NOW PUBLISHED! Correction to: “Canonical causal diagrams to guide the treatment of missing data in epidemiologic studies" doi.org/10.1093/aje/...

Grateful to have had the opportunity to correct our paper translating missingness DAGs (m-DAGs) into epidemiological practice #CausalSky #EpiSky
Correction to: “Canonical causal diagrams to guide the treatment of missing data in epidemiologic studies”
Moreno-Betancur et al.1 report and correct here errors in their article “Canonical causal diagrams to guide the treatment of missing data in epidemiologic
doi.org
January 28, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
WORKSHOPS! On causal inference, missing data and SMARTs, part of the ViCBiostat Summer School (10-14 Feb, hybrid). For more details & registration visit: www.vicbiostat.org.au/short-courses

#CausalSky #EpiSky
January 22, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Recording of the great #WCE2024 DAG debate now available!👇
I feel compelled to say:
1. I was assigned my side - everyone knows I love DAGs, especially missingness DAGs!
2. But also, debate was NOT “are u for/against DAGs” even if Peter made it seem so - he’s a great debater!
#CausalSky #EpiSky
"Have directed acyclic graphs fullfilled their promise?" - the recording of my debate with @margaritamb.bsky.social at the World Congress of Epidemiology 2024 is now available on YouTube!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG79...

#EpiSky #CausalSky #WCE2025
WCE2024 - INT02 - Debate - Have DAGS fulfilled their promise?
YouTube video by World Congress of Epidemiology 2024
www.youtube.com
January 16, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Reposted by Ghazaleh Dashti
Our 3 day short course @lshtm.bsky.social on multiple imputation for missing data using R is now open for registration. 17-19 June 2025. This year the course will be online only. More info here: www.lshtm.ac.uk/study/course...
Statistical Analysis with Missing Data Using Multiple Imputation | LSHTM
www.lshtm.ac.uk
November 21, 2024 at 7:41 AM
Registration is now open for VicBiostat 2025 Summer School!
10-14 Feb:

- Advanced causal inference
- Modern missing data methods
- SMARTs design & analysis

All courses run hybrid in person at
@Monash_SPHPM
& online via Zoom:
www.vicbiostat.org.au/short-courses

#episky #causalinference #stats
Short Courses
www.vicbiostat.org.au
November 21, 2024 at 4:18 AM