EFSA’s Weight of Evidence approach
A few hours
Beginner
Course details
The focus of this course is to give an overview on the EFSA´s guidance on the use of the weight of evidence (WoE) approach in scientific assessments. The three basic steps of a WoE approach are assembling, weighing and integrating the evidence in order to derive a final conclusion. These single steps are explained, discussed and their integration is highlighted with suitable examples. Furthermore, common ground and differences to the US National Toxicology Program’s “OHAT approach for systematic review and evidence integration” is discussed.
This self-paced training is structured in four modules that consist of training materials delivered by the Fraunhofer institute for EFSA.
Target audience
The course is open for all staff members, including EFSA’s Scientific Committee/Panels and their working groups and members of the EFSA Networks. This course is also available for members of other European agencies or European Institutions.
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Understand the framework and the principles for weight of evidence assessment and its applications in the areas of public health and food and feed safety.
- Identify, select, and group evidence.
- Assess reliability, relevance and choose methods for weighing the evidence.
- Understand conceptual models, assess consistency and report weight of evidence assessments.
Offered by
EFSA is an agency of the European Union set up in 2002 to serve as an impartial source of scientific advice to risk managers and to communicate on risks associated with the food chain.
Schedule
- Welcome
- Module 1 - Introduction
- Module 2 - Qualitative and quantitative methods
- Module 3 - Practical Guidance for WoE assessments
- Module 4 - Case studies
