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Bayesian Workshop 2026

Announcing the new double offering of Bayesian disease mapping workshops UsingR I and UsingR II.

Using R for Bayesian Spatial & Spatio-Temporal Health Modeling

Part I (UsingR I) & Part II (UsingR II)

Virtual offerings:

  • UsingR I: April 14 –17, 2026 | 9 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST
  • UsingR II: April 21 – 24, 2026 | 9 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST

Course Contents

Each workshop will be held only in mornings between 9 a.m. and 12 noon EST. Each workshop will consist of 8 sessions: 4 morning periods with 2 session per period.

This workshop is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the area of Bayesian disease mapping using R in applications to Public Health and Epidemiology.

Session Topic
Session I Basic concepts of Bayesian methods and disease mapping
Session II Bayesian computation: MCMC and alternatives
Session III R graphics for spatial health data
Session IV Bayesian Hierarchical Models for disease mapping (BHMs):
Use of R2OpenBUGS; Model goodness of fit and risk estimation using R2OpenBUGS; Simple models: Poisson-gamma; log-normal, convolution.
Session V Nimble for BHMs
Session VI Introduction to other packages: CARBayes and INLA
Session VII Introduction to Space-time modelling and clustering in Nimble
Session VIII Space-time mechanistic (infectious disease) modeling in Nimble and Q&A

Workshop on Special Topics (Extension to UsingR I)

Session Topic
Session I Review of BHMs
Session II Individual level: case event data
Session III Individual level: spatial survival
Session IV Special Spatial Models: zero-inflated regression; GWR
Session V Multivariate and multi-scale models
Session VI Measurement error and SEMs and Mediation
Session VII Clustering and latent structure in space and Space-time
Session VIII Disease Map Surveillance and sequential MC and Q&A

The Speaker

Andrew B. Lawson (Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina) is a MUSC Distinguished Professor Emeritus and a World Health Organization (WHO) advisor on Disease Mapping and organized with WHO an international workshop on this topic which has led to an edited volume “Disease Mapping and Risk Assessment for Public Health”. He is a life Fellow of the American Statistical Association and has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers in the area of disease mapping and spatial epidemiology. He recently acted as chief editor of the CRC Handbook of Spatial Epidemiology (2016), and has published a number of books focused on disease mapping and spatial epidemiology. In particular, the 3rd edition of the book: Lawson, A. B. Bayesian Disease Mapping CRC Press, appeared in 2018.

The recent addition:

Lawson, A. B. (2023) Using R for Bayesian Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Health Modeling. CRC Press.
will be a course text for the workshop. An e-book version is included in the online registration for either course.

Course Fee, Requirements, & Registration

There are two parts which can be taken separately or together (discount if taken together).

A variety of R packages will be used in the workshop. In UsingR I, the main R packages used will be R2OpenBUGS, Nimble, CARBayes, and INLA.

The graphics libraries DCluster, sp, spdep, sf, and tmap will also be used. In UsingR II, Nimble will be used for MCMC model fitting throughout.

Course Fees

UsingR I Rates

UsingR I full rate: $500
UsingR I early bird rate: $400
UsingR I student rate (with proof of registration status): $300

UsingR II Rates

UsingR II full rate: $500
UsingR II early bird rate: $400
UsingR II student rate (with proof of registration status): $300

UsingR I & UsingR II Combo Rates

UsingR I + UsingR II full rate: $800
UsingR I + UsingR II early bird rate: $600
UsingR I + UsingR II student rate (with proof of registration status): $400

Why Attend

The workshops are designed for those seeking to gain experience in analyzing health data where outcomes are geo-referenced. UsingR I provides an introduction to the area and would be suitable for those with some experience of basic statistical ideas (e.g. regression and distributions) and simple R use. UsingR II is intended for those who already have gained experience in the area but who want to extend their expertise into special topic areas, especially using Nimble.

Registration

Registration queries can be made with Kristen DelliColli (dellicolli@musc.edu).

Technical queries can be made to Andrew Lawson (lawsonab@musc.edu)

The registration form will be available soon.