Health Services, Systems & Policy Seminar Series: Douglas Luke

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Systems Science Methods in Public Health: Dynamics, Networks, and Agents

Many of the most pressing public health challenges are types of ‘wicked problems.’ These problems are complex, resistant to change, and require new types of transdisciplinary scientific investigation to address. Systems science methods, particularly system dynamics, social network analysis, and agent-based modeling show promise for these types of challenges. This talk will suggest how systems science can be applied to these types of problems, introduce these three common systems science methodologies (focusing particularly on network analysis and agent-based modeling), and provide examples of their application drawn from a variety of public health areas, including obesity, tobacco control, HIV/AIDS, healthcare delivery, and dissemination & implementation.

Speaker: Douglas Luke

Doug Luke

Professor Luke is a leading researcher in the areas of health policy, organizational systems, and tobacco control. He is director of the Center for Public Health Systems Science (CPHSS) at the Brown School, which focuses on the evaluation, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-based public health policies.

During the past decade, Dr. Luke has worked on applying systems science methods to important public health problems, especially social network analysis. Dr. Luke’s Center has used network analysis to study diffusion of scientific innovations, to model the formation of organizational collaborations, and to develop a blueprint of state tobacco control programs. In addition, Dr. Luke has been the network analysis track lead at NIH’s Institute for Systems Science and Health.


Frontiers for Network Analysis in Health Systems Research and Implementation Science

Health services and systems researchers are increasingly interested in studying the role and utilizing the power of social relations.  Social networks have been studied to inform, promote, and evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of health interventions.

The focus for this year’s Health Services, Systems & Policy Seminar Series at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation (IHPME), University of Toronto is on applications of social network analysis techniques and theories to study health services and systems. The series will engage Canadian and international scholars to discuss empirical and theoretical efforts to highlight the promise and potential, caveats, and limitations of network analysis in the field.


Related Events

Promotional poster for the Health Informatics Seminar Series. The event is titled 'Examining the Landscape of Human-Centered AI for Health Systems and Implications for Risk Prediction' and will take place on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, from 5 pm to 6 pm. Featured speakers are Victoria Chui, a PhD student, and Shion Guha, a professor. The poster includes photos of the speakers with their names and titles beneath their images.

Health Informatics Seminar Series: Examining the Landscape of Human-Centered AI for Health Systems and Implications for Risk Prediction

Feb
25

Feb 25, 2025 from 5pm-6pm (EST)

Sidney Smith Hall, Room 1084
100 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3

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