Epidemiology, Causation, and Expert Evidence
Public health evidence, legal causation, Rule 702, and litigation involving scientific proof.
Alex Smolak, PhD, is a therapist, epidemiologist, and JD candidate whose work spans mental health, public health, agriculture, and law. His legal and scholarly work focuses on causation, expert evidence, Rule 702, toxic torts, public health litigation, and the ways courts use scientific evidence to resolve legal disputes.
Legal and Scientific Focus
Dr. Smolak’s work examines how legal institutions use scientific evidence when deciding questions of causation, responsibility, and risk.
His current legal-scholarship and commentary focus on:
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epidemiology and causal inference;
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Rule 702 and expert evidence;
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Daubert-style admissibility questions;
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toxic tort causation;
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pesticide, pharmaceutical, and environmental exposure litigation;
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public health evidence in court;
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regulatory risk versus legal responsibility;
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general causation and specific causation;
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litigation involving scientific uncertainty.
A central theme of this work is that “causation” is not one question. Courts, regulators, scientists, juries, and litigants often use the same word to describe different tasks: regulatory risk assessment, general causation, specific causation, warning adequacy, preemption, and legal responsibility. Precision about those distinctions is essential when scientific evidence enters litigation.
Selected Publications and Commentary
Legal and Public Commentary
STAT First Opinion
“Roundup, the Supreme Court, and the difference between legal and scientific causation”
Published June 27, 2026.
Epidemiology and Public Health (selected)
The Lancet Global Health
“Epidemiology of Chlamydia trachomatis in the Middle East and north Africa: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression.” 2019.
Clinical Infectious Diseases
"Trends and predictors of syphilis prevalence in the general population:
Global pooled analyses of 1103 prevalence measures including 136 million syphilis tests." 2018.