Announcing the August joint meeting of the Western Australian Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) and the Australasian Region of the International Biometric Society (IBS-AR). Members and guests are invited to hear from Dr Chrianna Bharat.
Date: Tuesday, 11 August 2026.
Time: 6:00pm - 7:00pm (AWST)
Venue: Blakers Lecture Theatre, The University of Western Australia.
Format: In person
Dinner (7:15 PM): Steves, 30 The Avenue, Nedlands.
Abstract: Instrumental Variables in Medicines Research: Use, Implementation, and Validity
Instrumental variable (IV) methods promise identification of causal effects under unmeasured confounding - a pervasive problem in observational studies of medicines safety and effectiveness, where treatment choice is bound up with prognosis. But their validity rests on assumptions that are largely untestable. This talk examines how IVs are actually used in medicines research and what that reveals for researchers choosing, implementing, and reporting them.
The foundation is a pre-registered scoping review (OSF: 10.17605/OSF.IO/V96MG) of IV analyses of medicine and vaccine safety or effectiveness published 2000–2022 across MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL and NBER. From 4,372 records, 202 studies operationalised 253 distinct instruments. I use this evidence base to map the applied landscape.
Building from these findings, I will discuss the statistical challenges that recur in this setting. I argue that uneven reporting reflects a genuine methodological gap, and make the case for IV-specific reporting standards that render instrument specification, assumption verification, and the estimated estimand explicit - toward a transportable framework for the appropriate use and critical appraisal of IVs in medicines research.
Presenter Bio: Dr Chrianna Bharat
Dr Chrianna Bharat is an epidemiologist and biostatistician at the School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, where she is a Research Fellow on the Busselton Health Study. She completed her PhD at UNSW Sydney (2023) investigating the real-world use and outcomes of medicines among people with opioid dependence.
Dr Bharat’s research bridges pharmacoepidemiology and life-course population health, using large-scale linked and cohort data to understand how health conditions co-occur and evolve - from medicine use and mental health to multimorbidity in older age.
Refreshments and Dinner
Members and visitors are invited to mingle over wine and cheese from 5:30 PM onwards at the venue.
Following the meeting, all are invited to dine afterwards at Steves Bar, Cafe & Winestore (30 The Avenue, Nedlands). The evening will include a complimentary first drink and coffee/tea/cake dessert on behalf of the two societies.
If you wish to attend the dinner, please register by 12:00 NOON, Monday, 10 August 2026, and indicate your attendance on the form.
Venue details
The Blakers Lecture Theatre is located on the ground floor of the Mathematics building at The University of Western Australia. Its entrance is on the northern side of the building. See: UWA Maps, Google Maps.
Parking is free on the UWA Crawley campus after 5:00 PM. A convenient place to park is Car Park 51, accessible from Fairway Entrance 1.
For further information please contact the WA Branch Secretary: ssa.wa.secretary@gmail.com
@StatSocAus
