S4E12: Agent Based Models with Dr. Brandon Marshall

In this episode, we discuss Agent Based Models with Dr. Brandon Marshall of the Brown School of Public Health. We talk about what these models are and why they are so useful in epidemiology. We discuss the challenges with these models and how to improve them. We talk about microsimulations and their relationship to mathematical models like SIR models. We talk about how the fit into the world of predictive models but also how they relate to counterfactuals. We talk about how to account for bias in the inputs in these models and how they relate to DAGs and data generating mechanisms. We talk about all the skills needed to create ABMs (coders, modelers, epidemiologists, etc.) and the software used to create them as well as the challenges with and need for replication, calibration and validation. And we talk about how far outside of Matt and Hailey’s experience in epidemiology.