Laura Forastiere, PhD
Research & Publications
Biography
News
Research Summary
Laura Forastiere works at the intersection between statistical methodology and applied global public health research. Her methodological research is focused on methods for assessing causal inference for evidence-based research, exploring the mechanisms underlying the effect of an intervention including causal pathways through intermediate variables or mechanisms of peer influence and spillover between connected units. Her research explores modeling, inferential, and other methodological issues that often arise in applied problems with complex clustered and network data, and standard statistical theory and methods are no longer adequate to support the goals of the analysis.Her work on this topic has provided statistical methods for investigating causal mechanisms and spillover effects in clustered encouragement designs and observational network data, statistical methods for assessing the effect of an intervention on changes in the network structure, as well as experimental designs for evaluating the effectiveness of targeting strategies on networks. Another major component of her research refers to analyzing experiments affected by post-treatment variables, such as non-compliance or truncation by death, or irregular designs where the treatment is assigned according to some cutoff rule.
Coauthors
Research Interests
Behavioral Sciences; Health Plan Implementation; HIV; Global Health; Causality; Clinical Trial; Biostatistics; Social Networking; Observational Study
Public Health Interests
Global Health; Infectious Diseases; Bayesian Statistics; Health Equity, Disparities, Social Determinants and Justice; Implementation Science
Selected Publications
- Maternal and child health intervention to promote behaviour change: a population-level cluster-randomised controlled trial in HondurasOles W, Alexander M, Negron R, Nelson J, Iriarte E, Airoldi E, Christakis N, Forastiere L. Maternal and child health intervention to promote behaviour change: a population-level cluster-randomised controlled trial in Honduras. BMJ Open 2024, 14: e060784. PMID: 38858139, PMCID: PMC11168147, DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-060784.
- Assessing Direct and Spillover Effects of Intervention Packages in Network-randomized Studies.Buchanan A, Hernández-Ramírez R, Lok J, Vermund S, Friedman S, Forastiere L, Spiegelman D. Assessing Direct and Spillover Effects of Intervention Packages in Network-randomized Studies. Epidemiology 2024 PMID: 38709023, DOI: 10.1097/ede.0000000000001742.
- Causal inference on networks under continuous treatment interferenceForastiere L, Del Prete D, Sciabolazza V. Causal inference on networks under continuous treatment interference. Social Networks 2024, 76: 88-111. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2023.07.005.
- Doubly Robust Estimator for Off-Policy Evaluation with Large Action SpacesShimizu T, Forastiere L. Doubly Robust Estimator for Off-Policy Evaluation with Large Action Spaces. 2023, 00: 992-997. DOI: 10.1109/ssci52147.2023.10372057.
- Overall, Direct, Spillover, and Composite Effects of Components of a Peer-Driven Intervention Package on Injection Risk Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in the HPTN 037 StudyHernández-Ramírez R, Spiegelman D, Lok J, Forastiere L, Friedman S, Latkin C, Vermund S, Buchanan A. Overall, Direct, Spillover, and Composite Effects of Components of a Peer-Driven Intervention Package on Injection Risk Behavior Among People Who Inject Drugs in the HPTN 037 Study. AIDS And Behavior 2023, 28: 225-237. PMID: 37932493, PMCID: PMC11062514, DOI: 10.1007/s10461-023-04213-x.
- Estimating Causal Effects of HIV Prevention Interventions with Interference in Network-based Studies among People Who Inject Drugs.Lee T, Buchanan A, Katenka N, Forastiere L, Halloran M, Friedman S, Nikolopoulos G. Estimating Causal Effects of HIV Prevention Interventions with Interference in Network-based Studies among People Who Inject Drugs. The Annals Of Applied Statistics 2023, 17: 2165-2191. PMID: 38250709, PMCID: PMC10798667, DOI: 10.1214/22-aoas1713.
- Mass gatherings for political expression had no discernible association with the local course of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA in 2020 and 2021Feltham E, Forastiere L, Alexander M, Christakis N. Mass gatherings for political expression had no discernible association with the local course of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA in 2020 and 2021. Nature Human Behaviour 2023, 7: 1708-1728. PMID: 37524931, DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01654-1.
- Estimating causal effects of community health financing via principal stratificationNoirjean S, Biggeri M, Forastiere L, Mealli F, Nannini M. Estimating causal effects of community health financing via principal stratification. Statistical Methods & Applications 2023, 32: 1317-1350. DOI: 10.1007/s10260-023-00706-0.
- Implementation of a Hardware-Assisted Bluetooth-Based COVID-19 Tracking Device in a High School: Mixed Methods StudyLi D, Shelby T, Brault M, Manohar R, Vermund S, Hagaman A, Forastiere L, Caruthers T, Egger E, Wang Y, Manohar N, Manohar P, Davis J, Zhou X. Implementation of a Hardware-Assisted Bluetooth-Based COVID-19 Tracking Device in a High School: Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Formative Research 2023, 7: e39765. PMID: 36525333, PMCID: PMC10131711, DOI: 10.2196/39765.
- Assessing Principal Causal Effects Using Principal Score MethodsMattei A, Forastiere L, Mealli F. Assessing Principal Causal Effects Using Principal Score Methods. 2023, 313-348. DOI: 10.1201/9781003102670-17.
- Methods for Assessing Spillover in Network-Based Studies of HIV/AIDS Prevention among People Who Use DrugsBuchanan A, Katenka N, Lee Y, Wu J, Pantavou K, Friedman S, Halloran M, Marshall B, Forastiere L, Nikolopoulos G. Methods for Assessing Spillover in Network-Based Studies of HIV/AIDS Prevention among People Who Use Drugs. Pathogens 2023, 12: 326. PMID: 36839598, PMCID: PMC9967280, DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12020326.
- Estimating Causal Effects of Multi-Valued Treatments Accounting for Network Interference: Immigration Policies and Crime RatesTortú C, Crimaldi I, Mealli F, Forastiere L. Estimating Causal Effects of Multi-Valued Treatments Accounting for Network Interference: Immigration Policies and Crime Rates. Sociological Methods & Research 2023, 004912412211475. DOI: 10.1177/00491241221147503.
- Maternal and child health intervention to promote behavior change: a population-level cluster-randomized controlled trial in HondurasOles, W., Alexander M., Negron, R., Nelson, J., Iriarte, E., Airoldi, E.M., Christakis, N.A., Forastiere, L. (2023). Maternal and child health intervention to promote behavior change: a population-level cluster-randomized controlled trial in Honduras. BMJ Open.
- A 10+10+30 radio campaign is associated with increased infant vaccination and decreased morbidity in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia: A prospective, quasi-experimental trial.Appiah B, Gebretsadik LA, Mamo A, Kmush B, Asefa Y, France CR, Samman E, Alemayehu T, Abafogi M, Ahmed MK, Forastiere L, Singh GK, Larsen D, Morankar S. A 10+10+30 radio campaign is associated with increased infant vaccination and decreased morbidity in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia: A prospective, quasi-experimental trial. PLOS Glob Public Health 2022, 2: e0001002. PMID: 36962651, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001002.
- Algorithms for seeding social networks can enhance the adoption of a public health intervention in urban IndiaAlexander M, Forastiere L, Gupta S, Christakis NA. Algorithms for seeding social networks can enhance the adoption of a public health intervention in urban India. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2022, 119: e2120742119. PMID: 35862454, PMCID: PMC9335263, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2120742119.
- Development of a Psychometric Tool to Measure Community Solidarity Among Sexual Minorities: Evidence From a Pay-it-Forward Randomized Controlled TrialSung A, Zhang TP, Huang W, Tang W, Alexander M, Forastiere L, Kumar N, Hall BJ, Ransome Y, Dieckhaus KD, Wu D, Tucker JD, Yang F. Development of a Psychometric Tool to Measure Community Solidarity Among Sexual Minorities: Evidence From a Pay-it-Forward Randomized Controlled Trial. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 2022, 49: 628-634. PMID: 35675708, PMCID: PMC9378620, DOI: 10.1097/olq.0000000000001659.
- Interventions to mitigate COVID-19 misinformation: protocol for a scoping reviewKumar N, Walter N, Nyhan K, Khoshnood K, Tucker JD, Bauch CT, Ding Q, Jones-Jang SM, De Choudhury M, Schwartz JL, Papakyriakopoulos O, Forastiere L. Interventions to mitigate COVID-19 misinformation: protocol for a scoping review. Systematic Reviews 2022, 11: 107. PMID: 35637514, PMCID: PMC9148843, DOI: 10.1186/s13643-022-01917-4.
- News events and their relationship with US vape sales: an interrupted time series analysisJanmohamed K, Nakamura-Sakai S, Soale AN, Forastiere L, Altice FL, Kumar N. News events and their relationship with US vape sales: an interrupted time series analysis. BMC Public Health 2022, 22: 479. PMID: 35272644, PMCID: PMC8915465, DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-12858-x.
- Estimating Causal Effects Under Interference Using Bayesian Generalized Propensity ScoresForastiere, L., Mealli, F., Wu, A. & Airoldi, E. (2022). Estimating Causal Effects Under Interference Using Bayesian Generalized Propensity Scores. Journal of Machine Learning Research. 23(289):1-61.
- Blocking and being blocked on gay dating apps among MSM attending a sexual health clinic: an observational studyKumar N, Forastiere L, Janmohamed K, Zhang TP, Sha Y, Yu F, Yang L, Tucker JD, Tang W, Alexander M. Blocking and being blocked on gay dating apps among MSM attending a sexual health clinic: an observational study. BMC Public Health 2021, 21: 2127. PMID: 34798857, PMCID: PMC8605500, DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-12182-w.
- Sexual health (excluding reproductive health, intimate partner violence and gender-based violence) and COVID-19: a scoping reviewKumar N, Janmohamed K, Nyhan K, Forastiere L, Zhang WH, Kågesten A, Uhlich M, Frimpong A, Van de Velde S, Francis JM, Erausquin JT, Larrson E, Callander D, Scott J, Minichiello V, Tucker J. Sexual health (excluding reproductive health, intimate partner violence and gender-based violence) and COVID-19: a scoping review. Sexually Transmitted Infections 2021, 97: 402-410. PMID: 33782145, PMCID: PMC8380886, DOI: 10.1136/sextrans-2020-054896.
- Sexual health and COVID-19: protocol for a scoping reviewKumar N, Janmohamed K, Nyhan K, Forastiere L, Zhang WH, Kågesten A, Uhlich M, Van de Velde SM, Francis JM, Erausquin JT, Larsson EC, Callander D, Scott J, Minichiello V, Tucker JD. Sexual health and COVID-19: protocol for a scoping review. Systematic Reviews 2021, 10: 37. PMID: 33485393, PMCID: PMC7825389, DOI: 10.1186/s13643-021-01591-y.
- Improving HIV Self-Testing Social Network Interventions: The Role of Sexual Behavior Disclosure Among Chinese Men Who Have Sex with MenKumar N, Forastiere L, Janmohamed K, Yang F, Zhang T, Sha Y, Tucker JD, Tang W, Alexander M. Improving HIV Self-Testing Social Network Interventions: The Role of Sexual Behavior Disclosure Among Chinese Men Who Have Sex with Men. AIDS And Behavior 2021, 25: 1984-1992. PMID: 33471242, DOI: 10.1007/s10461-020-03128-1.
- Intersection of the Web-Based Vaping Narrative With COVID-19: Topic Modeling StudyJanmohamed K, Soale AN, Forastiere L, Tang W, Sha Y, Demant J, Airoldi E, Kumar N. Intersection of the Web-Based Vaping Narrative With COVID-19: Topic Modeling Study. Journal Of Medical Internet Research 2020, 22: e21743. PMID: 33001829, PMCID: PMC7641646, DOI: 10.2196/21743.
- Conditional Cash Transfer Program and Leprosy Incidence: Analysis of 12.9 Million Families From the 100 Million Brazilian CohortPescarini JM, Williamson E, Ichihara MY, Fiaccone RL, Forastiere L, Ramond A, Nery JS, Penna MLF, Strina A, Reis S, Smeeth L, Rodrigues LC, Brickley EB, Penna GO, Barreto ML. Conditional Cash Transfer Program and Leprosy Incidence: Analysis of 12.9 Million Families From the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort. American Journal Of Epidemiology 2020, 189: 1547-1558. PMID: 32639534, PMCID: PMC7705605, DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwaa127.
- Identification and Estimation of Treatment and Interference Effects in Observational Studies on NetworksForastiere L, Airoldi E, Mealli F. Identification and Estimation of Treatment and Interference Effects in Observational Studies on Networks. Journal Of The American Statistical Association 2020, 116: 901-918. DOI: 10.1080/01621459.2020.1768100.
- A Secondary Mixed Methods Analysis of a Pay-it-Forward Gonorrhea/Chlamydia Testing Program Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China.Li KT, Huang W, Tang W, Wu F, Zhao Y, Wu D, Yang F, Zhang TP, Forastiere L, Alexander M, Kumar N, Tucker JD. A Secondary Mixed Methods Analysis of a Pay-it-Forward Gonorrhea/Chlamydia Testing Program Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 2020, 47: 395-401. PMID: 32149952, PMCID: PMC7230016, DOI: 10.1097/olq.0000000000001161.
- Lack of sexual behavior disclosure may distort STI testing outcomesKumar N, Forastiere L, Zhang T, Yang F, Li KT, Tang W, Tucker JD, Christakis NA, Alexander M. Lack of sexual behavior disclosure may distort STI testing outcomes. BMC Public Health 2020, 20: 616. PMID: 32366241, PMCID: PMC7197169, DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-08768-5.
- Assessing short-term impact of PM10 on mortality using a semiparametric generalized propensity score approachForastiere L, Carugno M, Baccini M. Assessing short-term impact of PM10 on mortality using a semiparametric generalized propensity score approach. Environmental Health 2020, 19: 46. PMID: 32357874, PMCID: PMC7193397, DOI: 10.1186/s12940-020-00599-6.
- Pay-it-forward gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing among men who have sex with men in China: a randomised controlled trialYang F, Zhang TP, Tang W, Ong JJ, Alexander M, Forastiere L, Kumar N, Li KT, Zou F, Yang L, Mi G, Wang Y, Huang W, Lee A, Zhu W, Luo D, Vickerman P, Wu D, Yang B, Christakis NA, Tucker JD. Pay-it-forward gonorrhoea and chlamydia testing among men who have sex with men in China: a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2020, 20: 976-982. PMID: 32530426, PMCID: PMC8957706, DOI: 10.1016/s1473-3099(20)30172-9.
- Estimating short term impact of fine airborne particles on mortality using a semiparametric Generalized Propensity Score approachM B, L F, M C. Estimating short term impact of fine airborne particles on mortality using a semiparametric Generalized Propensity Score approach. Environmental Epidemiology 2019, 3: 18-19. DOI: 10.1097/01.ee9.0000605812.71544.67.
- Exploring Encouragement, Treatment, and Spillover Effects Using Principal Stratification, With Application to a Field Experiment on Teens’ Museum AttendanceForastiere L, Lattarulo P, Mariani M, Mealli F, Razzolini L. Exploring Encouragement, Treatment, and Spillover Effects Using Principal Stratification, With Application to a Field Experiment on Teens’ Museum Attendance. Journal Of Business And Economic Statistics 2019, 39: 244-258. DOI: 10.1080/07350015.2019.1647843.
- Pay-it-forward gonorrhea and chlamydia testing among men who have sex with men in China: a study protocol for a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trialZhang TP, Yang F, Tang W, Alexander M, Forastiere L, Kumar N, Li K, Zou F, Yang L, Mi G, Wang Y, Huang W, Lee A, Zhu W, Vickerman P, Wu D, Yang B, Christakis NA, Tucker JD. Pay-it-forward gonorrhea and chlamydia testing among men who have sex with men in China: a study protocol for a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial. Infectious Diseases Of Poverty 2019, 8: 76. PMID: 31426869, PMCID: PMC6700988, DOI: 10.1186/s40249-019-0581-1.
- P018 Pay-it-forward gonorrhea and chlamydia testing among chinese men who have sex with men: a cluster randomized controlled trialZhang T, Yang F, Tang W, Huang W, Wang Y, Alexander M, Forastiere L, Kumar N, Li K, Zou F, Yang L, Mi G, Lee A, Zhu W, Vickerman P, Wu D, Yang B, Christakis N, Tucker J. P018 Pay-it-forward gonorrhea and chlamydia testing among chinese men who have sex with men: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Sexually Transmitted Infections 2019, 95: a89. DOI: 10.1136/sextrans-2019-sti.227.
- Hierarchical Graphical Model for Learning Functional Network DeterminantsAliverti E, Forastiere L, Padellini T, Paganin S, Wit E. Hierarchical Graphical Model for Learning Functional Network Determinants. 2018, 257: 23-36. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-00039-4_2.
- Principal ignorability in mediation analysis: through and beyond sequential ignorabilityForastiere L, Mattei A, Ding P. Principal ignorability in mediation analysis: through and beyond sequential ignorability. Biometrika 2018, 105: 979-986. DOI: 10.1093/biomet/asy053.
- Estimating Causal Effects on Social NetworksForastiere L, Mealli F, Wu A, Airoldi E. Estimating Causal Effects on Social Networks. 2018, 00: 60-69. DOI: 10.1109/dsaa.2018.00016.
- Posterior Predictive $p$-Values with Fisher Randomization Tests in Noncompliance Settings: Test Statistics vs Discrepancy MeasuresForastiere L, Mealli F, Miratrix L. Posterior Predictive $p$-Values with Fisher Randomization Tests in Noncompliance Settings: Test Statistics vs Discrepancy Measures. Bayesian Analysis 2018, 13 DOI: 10.1214/17-ba1062.
- More Powerful Multiple Testing in Randomized Experiments with Non-ComplianceLee J, Forastiere, L, Miratrix L, Pillai N. More Powerful Multiple Testing in Randomized Experiments with Non-Compliance. Statistica Sinica 2017 DOI: 10.5705/ss.202016.0116.
- Identification and Estimation of Causal Mechanisms in Clustered Encouragement Designs: Disentangling Bed Nets Using Bayesian Principal StratificationForastiere L, Mealli F, VanderWeele TJ. Identification and Estimation of Causal Mechanisms in Clustered Encouragement Designs: Disentangling Bed Nets Using Bayesian Principal Stratification. Journal Of The American Statistical Association 2016, 111: 510-525. PMID: 28008210, PMCID: PMC5166715, DOI: 10.1080/01621459.2015.1125788.
- Reduced Polynomial Classifier using Within-Class Standardizing TransformScarano G, Forastiere L, Colonnese S, Rinauro S. Reduced Polynomial Classifier using Within-Class Standardizing Transform. 2012, 1-4. DOI: 10.1109/isccsp.2012.6217825.
- Brain waves based user recognition using the “Eyes Closed Resting Conditions” protocolCampisi P, Scarano G, Babiloni F, De Vico Fallani F, Colonnese S, Maiorana E, Forastiere L. Brain waves based user recognition using the “Eyes Closed Resting Conditions” protocol. 2011, 1-6. DOI: 10.1109/wifs.2011.6123138.
- P008 Does feedback modality influence error potential generation during BCI operation?Tocci A, Aloise F, Ferrez P, Forastiere L, Mattia D, Babiloni F, del R. Millàn J, Marciani M, Cincotti F. P008 Does feedback modality influence error potential generation during BCI operation? Clinical Neurophysiology 2008, 119: s73. DOI: 10.1016/s1388-2457(08)60279-5.