Dr. Denis Talbot, Ph.D., is a regular investigator at the CHU de Québec – Laval University Research Center and professor in biostatistics at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine of Laval University’s School of Medicine. His research interests focus on the development of statistical methods to perform causal inference and the application of such methods in health research, particularly in cardiovascular health research. Causal inference seeks to predict the effect that a potential intervention would have, for instance the effect of a public health policy or a medical treatment.
Model selection for causal inference
When observational data are utilized to investigate the relationship between an exposure and a disease, there can be variables that are both associated with the exposure and the disease. Such variables, called confounders, may distort the observed relationship between the exposure and the disease, unless adequate control is performed. Unfortunately, identifying confounders solely based on substantive knowledge can be difficult. Moreover, once confounders are identified, an appropriate statistical modeling approach must be employed to eliminate the bias that confounders produce.
One strategy to circumvent these problems would be to use statistical methods to supplement scientific knowledge with the information available in the data. Such methods would facilitate the identification and the control for confounders, and thus facilitate the identification of the causal relationship between the exposure and the disease. An important part of Dr. Talbot’s research program, funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, targets the development of such statistical methods.
Other interests in causal inference
Dr. Talbot is also interested in many other aspects of causal inference, notably in causal mediation methods and treatment regime effects (for example, cumulative exposure, and marginal structural models). He is involved in various collaborative research projects, for instance on health at work, nutrition or physical activity.
1050, chemin Sainte-Foy
J0-03
Québec, Québec
Canada G1S 4L8
Latest news
- CRSNG et FCI : 16 projets de recherche financés au CRCHU 2023-09-13
- [ULaval Nouvelles] COVID-19: une infection pré-Omicron assure une bonne protection contre les hospitalisations causées par Omicron 2022-10-19
- IRSC : Un financement de près de 8 millions de dollars pour 10 projets de recherche 2022-07-19
- Adenyo, Nyamador Komla DavidDoctoral studentHôpital Saint-Sacrementnyamador-komla-david.adenyo@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
1050 Chemin Sainte-Foy
J0-12
Québec, QC
Canada G1S 4L8 - Julmiste, Gaetane RaymondeMaster studentgaetane-raymonde.julmiste@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
- Mésidor, MicelinePostdoctoral fellowmiceline.mesidor@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
- Niang, Ndeye MaguetteIntern
- Trenou, Kossi ClémentDoctoral studentkossi-clement.trenou@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
- Trenou, Kossi ClémentMaster studentkossi-clement.trenou@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca
Psychosocial Stressors at Work and Coronary Heart Disease Risk in Men and Women: 18-Year Prospective Cohort Study of Combined Exposures
Journal ArticleCirc Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes, 2023.
Effectiveness of previous infection-induced and vaccine-induced protection against hospitalisation due to omicron BA subvariants in older adults: a test-negative, case-control study in Quebec, Canada
Journal ArticleLancet Healthy Longev, 4 (8), 2023.
Sex-specific medication trajectories in older adults newly diagnosed with diabetes
Journal ArticleExplor Res Clin Soc Pharm, 11 , 2023.
How does deprescribing (not) reduce mortality? A review of a meta-analysis in community-dwelling older adults casts uncertainty over claimed benefits
Journal ArticleBasic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol, 2023.
A bootstrap approach for evaluating uncertainty in the number of groups identified by latent class growth models
Journal ArticleAm J Epidemiol, 2023.
A value-based comparison of the management of respiratory diseases in walk-in clinics and emergency departments
Journal ArticleCJEM, 25 (5), 2023.
Work-Related Psychosocial Factors and Global Cognitive Function: Are Telomere Length and Low-Grade Inflammation Potential Mediators of This Association
Journal ArticleInt J Environ Res Public Health, 20 (6), 2023.
Double robust estimation of optimal partially adaptive treatment strategies: An application to breast cancer treatment using hormonal therapy
Journal ArticleStat Med, 42 (2), 2023.
An Alternative Perspective on the Robust Poisson Method for Estimating Risk or Prevalence Ratios
Journal ArticleEpidemiology, 34 (1), 2023.
Protection against omicron (B.1.1.529) BA.2 reinfection conferred by primary omicron BA.1 or pre-omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection among health-care workers with and without mRNA vaccination: a test-negative case-control study
Journal ArticleLancet Infect Dis, 23 (1), 2023.
Active projects
- Causal inference methods for adaptive treatment strategies, from 2023-04-01 to 2028-03-31
- Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM), from 2022-04-01 to 2028-03-31
- Méthodes d'inférence causale pour l'analyse de données médico-administratives et pour la médecine personnalisée, from 2022-07-01 to 2026-06-30
- Personalized risk-stratified breast cancer follow-up care: a feasibility and acceptability study, from 2023-06-26 to 2026-06-30
- Prévenir l’hypertension, le diabète de type 2 et les maladies cardiovasculaires en ciblant les stresseurs psychosociaux au travail, les longues heures de travail et les mauvaises habitudes de vie : Des fractions, from 2022-10-01 to 2026-03-31
- The right care, for the right patient, at the right time, by the right provider: A value-based comparison of the management of ambulatory respiratory diseases in walk-in clinics, primary care physician practices and emergency departments, from 2021-10-01 to 2025-03-31
- The right care, for the right patient, at the right time, by the right provider: A value-based comparison of the management of ambulatory respiratory diseases in walk-in clinics, primary care physician practices and emergency departments, from 2020-04-01 to 2024-03-31
- The test-negative design for the estimation of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness: design evaluation and development of statistical methods in the evolving context, from 2022-10-01 to 2025-09-30
- Vers des trajectoires de soins en cancer du sein personnalisées en fonction du risque et des besoins des patientes: une étude de faisabilité et d'acceptabilité, from 2023-04-01 to 2025-03-31
Recently finished projects
- Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM), from 2015-04-01 to 2022-03-31
- Déterminer la qualité de la polypharmacie chez les aînés : une approche basée sur l’intelligence artificielle, from 2020-04-01 to 2023-03-31
- Funding to support this manuscript development was provided by the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE)., from 2021-12-01 to 2022-12-31
- Méthodes d'inférence causale et la prise de décision dans un cadre bayésien, from 2018-04-01 to 2022-03-31
- Model and variable selection for causal inference., from 2016-04-01 to 2023-03-31
- Prize 202203PJT - The test-negative design for the estimation of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness: design evaluation and development of statistical methods in the evolving context, from 2022-10-01 to 2023-03-31
- Real-World Evaluation of the Efficacy, Safety and Cost-Effectiveness of Statins for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Among the Elderly – A Causal Perspective to Treatment Trajectory Analysis, from 2019-10-01 to 2023-03-31
- Sélection de modèles statistiques pour effectuer de l'inférence causale à l'aide de données épidémiologiques, from 2018-07-01 to 2022-06-30
- Subvention d'établissement de jeune chercheur, from 2018-07-01 to 2022-06-30
- The right care, for the right patient, at the right time, by the right provider: A value-based comparison of the management of ambulatory respiratory diseases in walk-in clinics, primary care physician practices and emergency departments, from 2021-03-01 to 2022-02-28