Constanza Avalos Valdebenito

Constanza is a PhD student in Social Statistics at the Cathie Marsh Institute, University of Manchester (UoM) and Enrichment Student at the Alan Turing Institute. She holds a Master's degree in Social Research Methods and Statistics from the UoM. Constanza has led research initiatives encompassing the design and collection of data for extensive surveys, as well as the analysis of quantitative data. As head of the Department of Agricultural Studies at the National Institute of Statistics of Chile, Constanza conducted research on the food industry. These research projects have been highly valuable to the Central Bank of Chile and The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in understanding macroeconomic growth dynamics. Constanza's doctoral research employs advanced machine learning techniques to examine the causal impact of front-of-package food labelling on consumer behavior, drawing on both randomized trials and observational data.

She specializes in causal inference approaches, leveraging methods like mixed/multilevel models to account for hierarchical structures and correlated data, particularly within health research outcomes. She also has practical experience in the design and data collection of randomized controlled trials utilizing choice experiments. A key aspect of her work involves exploring and advancing novel generalization and transportability methods. These innovative techniques are crucial for effectively integrating both experimental and observational data, thereby enabling the extension of treatment effects observed in trial participants to broader, target populations. This research specifically incorporates advanced G-methods, including Inverse-odds-of-sampling weighting and the average Outcome-model, which are vital for enhancing the validity and real-world applicability of research findings. This significant endeavor is guided by the expert supervision of Yan Wang and Nicholas Shryane. Her master and doctoral research has been funded by National Agency for Research and Development – ANID Becas Chile. 

Constanza's teaching assistant modules:

SOST30172 Quantitative Evaluation (of Policies, Interventions and Experiments)
SOST70032 Complex Survey Designs and Analysis 2023-24 2nd Semester
SOST70520 Methodology and Research Design 2023-24

Peer-review roles:

British Food Journal (2024)

Grants:

PGR Fieldwork Bursary, School of Social Sciences UoM(£3000)

Funding Conference, Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excelent (£700)

External positions:

Enrichment Student (2024-25), Alan Turing Institute (London)