Our priorities
- Promote best practices in causal reasoning in epidemiologic research, including as they apply to systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
- Promote recognition of the limitations of studies that are not fit for purpose (viz., designed with inadequate information on exposure or outcome, or inadequate data to address major threats to validity).
- Promote academic freedom in discussion of methodological strengths and limitations of epidemiology, ensuring that the full range of well-structured arguments are captured in the public domain, and that areas of disagreement in the field are openly articulated.
- Improve the ability of epidemiology to contribute to regulatory decisions.
What do we do?
- Original research with the collection of primary data and biological samples
- Secondary analyses of epidemiologic data
- Critical reviews of individual published studies
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
- Leading or coordinating expert epidemiology or multidisciplinary panels to develop policy recommendations and to review policy documents
- Development and dissemination of new methodologies, specifically those contributing to the application of epidemiology to regulatory decisions.
Guiding principle in working with sponsors
- We will work on either internally conceived initiatives or projects requested by private or public sponsors that are acceptable to the founding members.
- All projects will be conducted according to the highest scientific and ethical standards of the discipline.
- Any scientific work will be independent of input from sponsors. We will have the right to publish any work where, in the judgment of the study team, the work represents an important contribution to the literature.
- Where the research results in a publication, the sponsor will not have access to the manuscript until it has been accepted for publication.