Mendelian randomization short course

This course covers the fundamental developments in Mendelian randomization and gives practical explanations about how to apply MR to applied research questions.

About the course

This in-person three-day course will provide a comprehensive background to researchers interested in using Mendelian randomization for psychiatric research. The course will be a mixture of lectures and applied practicals, with students being provided with R and Stata code to undertake exemplar analyses.  

This course will cover: one-sample, two-sample, pleiotropy robust methods, within family and drug target MR. Each method will be explained with applied examples, along with the recommended sensitivity analyses, validation, and specification tests to assess the plausibility of MR analysis.

The course provides pre-readings and recorded lectures and aims to get students up to speed on how to undertake and publish high-quality Mendelian randomization studies

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Learn the assumptions of Mendelian randomization 
2. Learn how to conduct a one sample MR study  
3. Learn about resources for and how to conduct two-sample Mendelian randomization 
4. Learn the strengths and limitations of different MR methods.  

Course Summary 

1. Introduction to Mendelian randomization 
2. One sample Mendelian randomization 
3. Two-sample Mendelian randomization 
4. Pleiotropy robust methods  
5. Multivariable MR  
6. MR for mediation and interaction 
7. Within family Mendelian randomization 
8. MR phenome-wide association studies 
9. Omics and drug target Mendelian randomization 

Who should apply? 

This course is aimed at people conducting applied epidemiological, medical and other quantitative research, from PhD students to experienced researchers interested in learning more about Mendelian randomization for psychiatric research. Participants should have familiarity with applied statistical analysis and a MSc in statistics, data science, or other quantitative subject.  

Pre-requisites: experience managing data and running regression models in either Stata or R (as well as knowledge on how to interpret model output).  

Participants should have their own laptop with either Stata and R already installed. 

Refreshments

Coffee, tea and light refreshments will be provided daily at 9, mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

There will be an hour for lunch each day, but this will not be provided. Several dining options are available, including a Waitrose in the Brunswick Centre, 5 minutes from where the course will take place. Opposite Russell Square Station, you will find a Pret a Manger and a Tesco.

Registration

Please register here.