2026 Symposium of Causal Inference in the Health Sciences

We were delighted to host the 2026 Symposium of Causal Inference in the Health Sciences, which was held on the 18th of March, 2026 at the University of Fribourg.

This event aims to create a space for early-stage researchers to network and learn from the leading experts in causal inference in Switzerland and networking with international invited faculty.

Program

9:30	Opening
9:45	Welcome and Introduction Prof. Martin Huber, Professor of Applied Econometrics and Policy Evaluation, University of Fribourg
9.50	Session 1 – Nutritional Benefits of Fostering: Evidence from Longitudinal Data in South Africa Dr. Elsa Gautrain, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Economics, University of Fribourg
10.20	Session 2 – Measuring the Effects of Population-Level Interventions Using Healthcare Claims Data Dr. Aurélien Sallin, Economist and Lecturer, SWICA and the University of St. Gallen.
10.50	Coffee break
11.15	Flash Talk Presentations I
12.00	Session 3 – Heterogeneous data can help when dealing with hidden confounding Prof. Jonas Peters, Professor of Statistics, Department of Mathematics, ETH Zurich
13.00	Lunch
14.00	Session 4 – Double Machine Learning and Causal Forests Asst. Prof. Jana Mareckova, Assistant Professor in Econometrics, Swiss Institute of Empirical Economic Research, University of St. Gallen.
14.45	Coffee break
15.00	Flash Talk Presentations II
16.00	Closing Remarks

Venue

The University of Fribourg, Site Pérolles, Pérolles 21 (PER21), Room A130. 20-minute walk from the SBB Fribourg Station or a 6 minute bus ride with buses 1, 3, 8 and 9.

For other suggested routes, tickets and timetables please check the SBB Website or Google Maps.

Information on past Causality Symposiums can be found here: 2025, 2024, and 2023. For any inquiry or additional question, please contact pophealthlab@unifr.ch. We look forward to seeing you at future iterations of the symposium!