The biennial Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics, worth 1 million USD, aims to reward excellence in statistical research which has a significant impact. The King Baudouin Foundation has selected 5 winners for this prize, for their work on Causal Inference in Medicine and Public Health. Half the prize amount will go to James Robins of Harvard University and half will be shared by Miguel Hernán (Harvard University), Thomas Richardson (University of Washington), Andrea Rotnitzky (Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Argentina) and Eric Tchetgen Tchetgen (University of Pennsylvania). The latter four laureates were either trained or deeply influenced by Robins. They remain his main collaborators to this day.

 Ghent University is proud to welcome all 5 laureates on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 11. The early afternoon session, starting at 1h45pm, will be directed towards a statistical audience. It will be followed by a session celebrating Causal Inference in Medicine and Public Health, starting at 4pm, aimed at a broad audience. Please register for one or both of these sessions BEFORE OCTOBER 7 via the following link: https://webappsx.ugent.be/eventManager/events/causal

 The award ceremony will take place in Leuven on the afternoon of Ocotber 12, with further scientific sessions for a statistical audience taking place in the morning. If you wish to participate in those, please register BEFORE SEPTEMBER 30 via this separate link: https://wis.kuleuven.be/events/celebrating-statistics

PROGRAM OCTOBER 11

CELEBRATING CAUSAL INFERENCE IN STATISTICS

Location: Ghent

Auditorium Emmy Noether, Campus De Sterre, building S25 (Galglaan, Gent)

Target audience: statisticians, data scientists, experts in epidemiologic methods

Chair: Oliver Dukes, Ghent University

• 13:45-13:50 Welcome by Stijn Vansteelandt
• 13:50-14:15: Vanessa Didelez, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology (BIPS) - "Direct and indirect effects of the Laureates' work: some examples from epidemiologic research"
• 14:15-14:40: Julie Josse, INRIA Montpellier - "Leveraging incomplete observational data and RCT to estimate treatment effect"
• 14:40-15:20: Eric Tchetgen Tchetgen, University of Pennsylvania - "On Proximal Causal Inference: Recent Progress and Open Problems"

Location: Ghent

Restaurant, Ghent University Hospital (Campus Heymans), Entrance 8

• 15:45-16:15: Coffee (with posters)

CELEBRATING CAUSAL INFERENCE IN MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Location: Ghent

Restaurant, Ghent University Hospital (Campus Heymans), Entrance 8

Target audience: medical audience, general audience

Chair: Stijn Vansteelandt, Ghent University

• 16:15-16:25: Welcome by Isabel Van Driessche, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences
• 16:25-16:35: Welcome by Wim Van Biesen, Ghent University Hospital
• 16:35-17:15: Miguel Hernán, Harvard University - "Because there is no other way - Estimating vaccine effectiveness and safety using observational data"
•  17:15-17:55: James Robins, Harvard University - "Target Trial Methodology for the Estimation of Causal Effects of Treatments for Chronic Diseases using Longitudinal Electronic Medical Record data"

Chair: Els Goetghebeur and Johan Steen, Ghent University

• 17:55-18:40: Panel discussion with the five laureates
• 18:40-19:40: Reception (with posters)

PROGRAM OCTOBER 12

CELEBRATING CAUSAL INFERENCE IN STATISTICS

Location: Leuven

Promotiezaal, Universiteitshal, University of Leuven, Naamsestraat 22

Target audience: statisticians, data scientists, experts in epidemiologic methods

• 10:00-10:30: Registration and Coffee

Chair: Stijn Vansteelandt, Ghent University

• 10:30-11:10: Thomas Richardson, University of Washington - "Causation, Counterfactuals and Graphs"
• 11:10-11:50: Andrea Rotnitzky, Universidad Torcuato di Tella - "Subtleties about the estimation of causal effects of time dependent treatments identified under causal graphical models with hidden variables"
• 11:50-12:30: James Robins, Harvard University - "Causal Inference from Complex Longitudinal Data: Lessons Learned and Open Problems"
• 12:30-14:00: Break for lunch (not provided)
• 14:00-14:30: Pickup badges for entry
• 14:30-15:00: Welcome and information about the selection procedure
• 15:00-15:45: Aad van der Vaart, Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics Causal inference, what if, and more, an appreciation. Presentation about the winning contribution.
• 15:45-16:00: Musical interlude
• 16:00-17:00: Award ceremony
• 17:00-18:30: Reception