{"id":494,"date":"2026-05-07T13:23:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\/?page_id=494"},"modified":"2026-06-02T08:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:53:42","slug":"target-trial-emulation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\/target-trial-emulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Target trial emulation for causal inference in observational studies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date:<\/strong> 2 June 2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time:<\/strong> 13:00\u201317:00 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Location:<\/strong> MH2 U.09.308 & MH2 U.09.309,  Floor 9, MH2 building, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting to the university<\/a> from the conference hotel.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MazeMap QR code for the workshop room<\/strong>: Link to workshop room location<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Session Responsibles:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leader(s): Yu-Han Chiu<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-leader(s): Shuyuan Yang<\/em> Coordinator(s): Therese Haugdahl N\u00f8st<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short Description:<\/strong> This pre-conference course introduces the target trial emulation framework, a structured approach for drawing causal inferences from observational data by explicitly designing the study as if it were a randomized trial. Participants will learn how to specify the protocol of a hypothetical target trial and then emulate that protocol using real-world data. Through applied examples and interactive discussion, the course will highlight common sources of bias in observational research (e.g., immortal time bias, selection bias, and time-varying confounding) and demonstrate how careful alignment between design and analysis can mitigate these threats. We will also discuss practical implementation strategies using longitudinal data. The course is designed for clinical researchers, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and data scientists seeking to strengthen the rigor and transparency of causal inference in real-world evidence research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning Outcomes:<\/strong> By the end of the session, participants will be able to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Formulate a clearly defined causal question in target trial terms;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Translate that question into an explicit trial protocol; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Identify key design and analytic decisions necessary to validly estimate causal effects from observational data.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Program<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Time<\/td>Title<\/td><\/tr>
    13:00-13:40<\/td>Introduction and overview of target trial emulation<\/td><\/tr>
    13:40-14:10<\/td>Designing and emulating target trials in practice-I<\/td><\/tr>
    14:10-14:30<\/td>Q&A and discussion<\/td><\/tr>
    14:30-14:50<\/td>Break<\/td><\/tr>
    14:50-15:50<\/td>Designing and emulating target trials in practice-II<\/td><\/tr>
    15:50-16:00<\/td>Break<\/td><\/tr>
    16:00-16:40<\/td>Applied examples<\/td><\/tr>
    16:40-17:00<\/td>Q&A and closing remarks<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Date: 2 June 2026  Time: 13:00\u201317:00  Location: MH2 U.09.308 & MH2 U.09.309,  Floor 9, MH2 building, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway Getting to the university from the conference hotel. MazeMap QR code for the workshop room: Link to workshop room location Session Responsibles:  Leader(s): Yu-Han Chiu  Co-leader(s): Shuyuan Yang Coordinator(s): Therese Haugdahl N\u00f8st Short Description: This pre-conference course introduces […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123729,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-494","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nTarget trial emulation for causal inference in observational studies - NordicEpi & NorPEN Conference 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\/target-trial-emulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Target trial emulation for causal inference in observational studies - NordicEpi & NorPEN Conference 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Date: 2 June 2026  Time: 13:00\u201317:00  Location: MH2 U.09.308 & MH2 U.09.309,  Floor 9, MH2 building, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway Getting to the university from the conference hotel. MazeMap QR code for the workshop room: Link to workshop room location Session Responsibles:  Leader(s): Yu-Han Chiu  Co-leader(s): Shuyuan Yang Coordinator(s): Therese Haugdahl N\u00f8st Short Description: This pre-conference course introduces […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\/target-trial-emulation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NordicEpi & NorPEN Conference 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T06:53:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/537\/2026\/05\/u9.309.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/target-trial-emulation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/target-trial-emulation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Target trial emulation for causal inference in observational studies - NordicEpi & NorPEN Conference 2026\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/target-trial-emulation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/target-trial-emulation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/537\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/u9.309.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-07T11:23:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-02T06:53:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/target-trial-emulation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/target-trial-emulation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/target-trial-emulation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/537\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/u9.309.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/537\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/u9.309.png\",\"width\":235,\"height\":235},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/target-trial-emulation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Target trial emulation for causal inference in observational studies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"NordicEpi & NorPEN Conference 2026\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/site.uit.no\\\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Target trial emulation for causal inference in observational studies - NordicEpi & NorPEN Conference 2026","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/nordicepi-norpen-2026\/target-trial-emulation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Target trial emulation for causal inference in observational studies - NordicEpi & NorPEN Conference 2026","og_description":"Date: 2 June 2026  Time: 13:00\u201317:00  Location: MH2 U.09.308 & MH2 U.09.309,  Floor 9, MH2 building, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway Getting to the university from the conference hotel. 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