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.

Hôpital Saint-Sacrement
1050, chemin Sainte-Foy
J0-03
Québec, Québec
Canada G1S 4L8
denis.talbot@crchudequebe... denis.talbot@fmed.ulaval....

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118 entries « ‹ 1 of 12 › »

Schnitzer ME, Ortiz-Brizuela E, Carabali M, Talbot D

Bias-interpretability Trade-offs in Vaccine Effectiveness Studies Using Test-negative or Cohort Designs

Journal Article

Epidemiology, 35 (2), 2024.

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Marx T, Moore L, Talbot D, Guertin JR, Lachapelle P, Blais S, Singbo N, Simonyan D, Lavallée J, Zada N, Shahrigharahkoshan S, Huard B, Olivier P, Mallet M, Létourneau M, Lafrenière M, Archambault P, Berthelot S,

Value-based comparison of ambulatory children with respiratory diseases in an emergency department and a walk-in clinic: a retrospective cohort study in Québec, Canada

Journal Article

BMJ Open, 14 (4), 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Gagnon ME, Talbot D, Tremblay F, Desforges K, Sirois C

Polypharmacy and risk of fractures in older adults: A systematic review

Journal Article

J Evid Based Med, 17 (1), 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Trenou KC, Mésidor M, Diorio C, Eslami A, Talbot D

[Effects of extended aromatase inhibitors in women with hormone-dependent breast cancer who have already received five years of adjuvant hormone therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis]

Journal Article

Bull Cancer, 111 (4), 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Mésidor M, Sirois C, Guertin JR, Schnitzer ME, Candas B, Blais C, Cossette B, Poirier P, Brophy JM, Lix L, Tadrous M, Diop A, Hamel D, Talbot D

Effect of statin use for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease among older adults: a cautionary tale concerning target trials emulation

Journal Article

J Clin Epidemiol, 168 , 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Diop A, Gupta A, Mueller S, Dron L, Harari O, Berringer H, Kalatharan V, Park JJH, Mésidor M, Talbot D

Assessing the performance of group-based trajectory modeling method to discover different patterns of medication adherence

Journal Article

Pharm Stat, 23 (4), 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Brousseau N, Carazo S, Febriani Y, Padet L, Hegg-Deloye S, Cadieux G, Bergeron G, Fafard J, Charest H, Lambert G, Talbot D, Longtin J, Dumont-Blais A, Bastien S, Dalpé V, Minot PH, De Serres G, Skowronski DM

Single-dose Effectiveness of Mpox Vaccine in Quebec, Canada: Test-negative Design With and Without Adjustment for Self-reported Exposure Risk

Journal Article

Clin Infect Dis, 78 (2), 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Ducrocq J, Lévesque B, De Serres G, Boiteau V, Yansouni CP, Proulx JF, Talbot D

Increasing our knowledge about the epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori in Nunavik's Inuit population (Québec, Canada) using Qanuilirpitaa? 2017 cross-sectional survey

Journal Article

Int J Circumpolar Health, 83 (1), 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Sirois C, Gosselin M, Laforce C, Gagnon ME, Talbot D

How does deprescribing (not) reduce mortality? A review of a meta-analysis in community-dwelling older adults casts uncertainty over claimed benefits

Journal Article

Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol, 134 (1), 2024.

Abstract | Links:

Ortiz-Brizuela E, Carabali M, Jiang C, Merckx J, Talbot D, Schnitzer ME

Potential Biases in Test-Negative Design Studies of COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Arising from the Inclusion of Asymptomatic Individuals

Journal Article

Am J Epidemiol, 2024.

Abstract | Links:

118 entries « ‹ 1 of 12 › »
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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
  • Development of statistical methods for estimating optimal adaptive treatment strategies with survival outcomes, from 2024-10-01 to 2028-09-30
  • Favoriser l'engagement des femmes ayant eu un cancer du sein dans les décisions concernant l'hormonothérapie adjuvante prolongée, from 2023-10-01 to 2027-05-31
  • 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 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
  • Urogenital tissue engineering solutions for transgender surgeries, from 2024-03-31 to 2026-03-30
  • 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

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Utilisation de l’inférence causale pour l’attribution des ventes en assurance de dommage, from 2023-10-02 to 2024-10-01
Data provided by the Université Laval research projects registery