Causal Decision Lab

Welcome to the Murray Causal Decision Lab in the Department of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, run by Dr Eleanor (Ellie) Murray and her team.

The Causal Decision Lab aims to improve the quality of epidemiologic, public health, and medical research to allow for better evidence-based decision-making through the wider adoption of causal inference thinking and methods. This involves improving the quality and usefulness of evidence obtained from randomized trials, designing better observational studies that are transparent about required assumptions, and understanding the benefits and challenges of simulation models for making decisions when very limited data are available. The Causal Decision Lab is also interested in how people process and understand cause and effect information, and in better ways of teaching and communicating scientific methods.

Causal inference is a primary goal of many research fields, and as such, the Causal Decision Lab does not have a specific disease area of focus. We are always looking for collaborators in new subject areas to help expand the use of these methods. Current and former applied topic areas include infectious diseases such as influenza H5N1, HIV, human papillomavirus (HPV), COVID-19, and sepsis; cardiovascular disease; cancer including ovarian and cervical cancer; reproductive health especially issues surrounding fertility treatments; and mental health including psychiatric disorders, burnout, and depression.