Pre-Conference Workshops

Workshops are free and available for all registrants.

Thursday, September 15 - 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Workshop 1: Data Analytic Strategies for handling Big Data Sets- Applications to Eating Disorder Research
Location: Commonwealth A

Chairs: Fengqing (Zoe) Zhang, Haochang Shou

The workshop will start by introducing several examples of supervised and unsupervised machine learning models, including well-established techniques such as support vector machines, and clustering techniques. The second half of the workshop is devoted to Big Data or high dimensional data analysis using dimension reduction and feature selection techniques. In addition to lectures, real-world examples, and collaboration showcase, we will provide step-by-step tutorials on how these analyses can be conducted using software R. No previous experience of using R is required. 

Workshop 2: Clinical Trials for Eating Disorders: Best practices for setting up, recruiting for, and successfully running a clinical trial
Location: Commonwealth B-D

Chair: Tracey Wade
Presenters: Ulrike Schmidt, Anja Hilbert, Joanna Steinglass, Rachel Woodson Goode. Tracey Wade

The aim of this workshop is to develop a clearer agenda for robust and informative clinical trials in eating disorders. We will discuss the different aspects of developing complex interventions and assess what limitations currently appear most in eating disorder clinical trials. Each of our presenters will discuss lessons learned from clinical trials they have conducted, with a focus on things that went well and did not go well. We will then invite our audience and panel to reflect on what needs to be done in order to increase impact and informativeness of our eating disorder clinical trials.