Statistical Methods

This page has a list of publications and news articles related to Innovative Strategies - Statistical Methods. Find more information on Innovation in HEI's research programs.

Research Report 200
Francesca Dominici
Joel Schwartz
Qian Di
Danielle Braun
Christine Choirat
Antonella Zanobetti
2019

Research Report 200 describes the first-phase results of a study examining any association between exposure to low levels of air pollution — both PM2.5 and O3 — and all-cause mortality in a population of 61 million Medicare enrollees residing in the continental United States. The report also presents the detailed Commentary on the study by HEI’s Low-Exposure Epidemiology Studies Review Panel.

Summer 2017 Update now available

August 2, 2017

In the Summer 2017 HEI Update, read about the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Leadership Award given to HEI President Dan Greenbaum by the California Air Resources Board, the two 2017 recipients of HEI’s Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award, and the progress of HEI studies examining potential health effects at low levels of air pollution. Also in this issue is a recap of HEI’s recent Annual Conference in Alexandria, Virginia.

Newsletter
Health Effects Institute
2017

In this issue of HEI Update, read about the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Leadership Award given to HEI President Dan Greenbaum by the California Air Resources Board, the two 2017 recipients of HEI’s Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award, and the progress of HEI studies examining potential health effects at low levels of air pollution. Also in this issue is a recap of HEI’s recent Annual Conference in Alexandria, Virginia.

Research Report 187
Corwin M. Zigler
Chanmin Kim
Christine Choirat
John Barrett Hansen
Yun Wang
Lauren Hund
Jonathan Samet
Gary King
Francesca Dominici
2016

HEI Research Report 187 was funded as part of HEI’s Accountability research program, aimed at understanding whether actions to improve air quality have resulted in improved health outcomes. Corwin M. Zigler and his colleagues used existing and newly developed statistical methods to assess whether an intervention was causally related to changes in pollutant levels or health outcomes, and applied their methods in two well-developed case studies: effects of air quality interventions to reduce PM10 concentrations in nonattainment areas and the impact of installation of scrubber technologies on emissions from coal-fired power plants.

"Direct" Approach Evaluates Air Quality Interventions

May 31, 2016

HEI Research Report 187, Causal Inference Methods for Estimating Long-Term Health Effects of Air Quality Regulations, was funded as part of HEI’s Accountability research program, aimed at understanding whether actions to improve air quality have resulted in improved health outcomes.

This newsletter reports on a third study under way in Europe to complete the comprehensive HEI effort to examine the potential health effects of air pollution at low levels; HEI's new research program focusing on the health effects of exposure to traffic-related pollution; and the GBD MAPS team's presentation of preliminary data on coal’s impact on health in China. In addition, it covers the publication of two new research reports covering novel statistical methods for studying pollutant mixtures and a “direct” approach evaluating the impact of air quality interventions through “causal inference” methods, as well as the retirement of HEI's Aaron Cohen, a strategy session held with HEI's sponsors, and HEI in the news.

Spring 2016 Update now available

May 18, 2016

The Spring 2016 newsletter reports on a third study under way in Europe to complete the comprehensive HEI effort to examine the potential health effects of air pollution at low levels; HEI's new research program focusing on the health effects of exposure to traffic-related pollution; and the GBD MAPS team's presentation of preliminary data on coal’s impact on health in China, and more. 

Research Report 183, Part 3
John Molitor
Eric Coker
Michael Jerrett
Beate Ritz
Arthur Li
2016

This report is Part 3 of HEI Research Report 183, Development of Statistical Methods for Multipollutant Research. It describes a study to develop and apply statistical methods to analyze the effects of multipollutant exposures on health, expanding beyond the two-pollutant approaches used in many studies to date. HEI funded three innovative studies in recent years to improve the tools for analyzing complex multipollutant exposures. In this last report from these studies, John Molitor and colleagues describe a Bayesian framework to identify spatial clusters of air pollution exposures — and other covariates such as socioeconomic status — and estimated pregnancy outcomes associated with those clusters, using a data set for Los Angeles county. 

Novel Statistical Methods for Studying Pollutant Mixtures

April 7, 2016

HEI Research Report 183, Part 3Modeling of Multipollutant Profiles and Spatially Varying Health Effects with Applications to Indicators of Adverse Birth Outcomes, describes a study to develop and apply statistical methods to analyze the effects of multipollutant exposures on health, expanding beyond the two-pollutant approaches used in many studies to date. 

This newsletter reports on the approval of new HEI studies to examine potential health effects of low-level pollution; the completion of a review of diesel exhaust studies (Special Report 19) by an HEI-appointed panel; and WHO's plans to update global air quality guidelines. In addition, it announces the publication of an HEI report taking a closer look at exposure to PM2.5 and its composition and a report evaluating rapid heart rhythm changes after exposure to PM. HEI also announces the recipient of the 2015 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award and the appointment of three new HEI Research Committee members.