
Spaceflight Epidemiologist's Grand DAG | Robert Reynolds, PhD S3E01 | CausalBanditsPodcast.com
Send us Fan Mail Join the UBC Causal AI Cluster launch event In-person & online on October 8, 2026 More on the event here How do you build a causal model when only a few hundred people in history have ever been your population? Robert J. Reynolds was brought into NASA to answer questions difficult to settle with a simple experiment: what threatens astronauts health and how to make sure that countering one risk does not increase another one. To answer these questions, Rob worked with physicians, engineers, physiologists, and statisticians, none of whom speak quite the same language. What came out of it is one of the most ambitious causal modeling efforts in spaceflight history. In this episode, we cover: - How to successfully build a causal model in a multidisciplinary organization - Why ignorance is important in the scientific process - What role testable implications play in the development of a causal graph - What to do when your sample size is tiny and the stakes are high Enjoy the episode! Recorded on Sep 21, 2026 in New York City, US. About The Guest Dr. Robert J. Reynolds is a spaceflight epidemiologist and data scientist working at the intersection of human spaceflight, small-n methodology, and causal inference. At NASA's Johnson Space Center he supported the Human Health and Performance Directorate, applying statistical modeling, systems thinking, machine learning, and network science to decisions about astronaut health and mission readiness. He is also Associate Professor of Aerospace Medicine at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. He holds a PhD and an MPH in epidemiology and an MS in statistics, and is an Accredited Professional Statistician (PStat) with the American Statistical Association. Rob delivers the keynote at the launch of UBC's causal AI research cluster, "Graphical Models in AI: Discovery and Application," on October 8, 2026. Connect with Robert: - Robert on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/RobertReynoldsPhD About The Host Aleksander (Alex) Molak is an independent machine learning researcher, educator, entrepreneur and a best-selling author in the area of causality (https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4 ). Connect with Alex: - Alex on the Internet: https://bit.ly/aleksander-molak Links - Reynolds, R. J. (2026) - "Living DAGs: the future of DAGs in epidemiology " (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41662841/) - Antonsen, Reynolds, et al. (2024) - "Causal diagramming for assessing human system risk in spaceflight" (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-024-00375-7) - Ward, Reynolds, et al. (2024) - "Levels of evidence for human system risk evaluation" (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-024-00372-w) 💠 Alex's Book on Causality 🔷 Consulting and Causal AI Training For Your Team: hello@causalpython.io YouTube Playlist Support the show Causal Bandits Podcast Causal AI || Causal Machine Learning || Causal Inference & Discovery Web: https://causalbanditspodcast.com Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandermolak/ Join Causal Python Weekly: https://causalpython.io The Causal Book: https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4













