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The International Conference on Using Epidemiological Studies in Health Risk Assessments will take place November 9 – 10, 2023 in Berlin, Germany.
Observational epidemiological studies can provide valuable evidence for health risk assessments in various areas including food and feed safety, chemical and product safety, occupational health, environmental health and animal health.
However, the use of epidemiological data to assess health risks is often not systematic. The presumed inability of observational studies to demonstrate a causal relationship may even lead to their exclusion from the evidence assessment although they may provide valuable evidence for example in a weight-of-evidence approach.
Risk assessors may encounter challenges when using epidemiological data for their assessments. Some of these are related to the approaches for the critical appraisal of the evidence of individual studies. For example, the critical appraisal should consider uncertainties in the methods used to determine exposures, risk factors and outcomes. Uncertainty about the causal nature of an observed association is a central question in the use of epidemiological evidence in health risk assessment.
At this conference, epidemiologists, health statisticians, risk assessors, other users of epidemiological evidence (e.g. toxicologists and nutritionists) as well as risk managers and stakeholders are invited to share and discuss their experiences to promote the use of epidemiological data for health risk assessments.
"Observational epidemiological studies can be valuable for health risk assessments in a weight-of-evidence approach, provided that the previous critical appraisal of the methodology used and reporting of data does not identify high risk of bias."
“Epidemiologic studies present a crucial element of risk assessment, being able to derive effect sizes in (relatively) unselected populations under real-life exposure conditions”
"The challenge: The methodology for animal data to be used in quantitative toxicological risk assessment cannot be transferred 1:1 to epidemiological data"
“To provide credible answers about risk assessment, trustworthy evidence synthesis and assessment of bias for a body of evidence is essential. This must be done in a structured and transparent way to inform consumers best”
“Epidemiological studies play a pivotal role in health risk assessment because of studying humans in their real life, but a critical assessment of potential bias is crucial.”
"The disciplines of risk assessment and epidemiology would both benefit with better mutual understanding and collaboration; tools that can help are available."
“ROBINS-E is a new tool to assess the risk of bias in an estimate, from an observational study of humans, of the effect of an exposure on an outcome. It was carefully developed by an international collaborative group based on principles of causal inference.
"Cognitive and social biases are more pervasive and important than recognized in most methodological literature; statistical methods are a major source of these biases"
"Risk analysis is a global, interdisciplinary process – we have a duty to work across borders and disciplines to make sure our food is safe for people around the world to enjoy."
