Research seminar: November 12, 2021

From HIV to COVID-19: How Pandemics Impact Epidemiologic Methods

November 12, 2021


Alfredo Morabia, MD, PhD, MPH

Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York and Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Public Health

Morabia's domain of research is urban health and history. He is PI of a cohort study of cardiovascular diseases among men and women who volunteered during the months following the 9/11 attack to clean the debris of the WTC towers. He is supported by the National Library of Medicine to write a textbook on the history of epidemiologic methods and concepts. Dr Morabia lectures and teaches on the history of epidemiology internationally in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. Alfredo Morabia also serves as the Editor in Chief of the AJPH (former American Journal of Public Health) and Editor of "Epidemiology in History" at the American Journal of Epidemiology. His last book, "Enigmas of Health and Disease: How Epidemiology Contributes to Unravel Scientific Mysteries" was published by Columbia University Press in 2014.

Morabia completed his undergraduate studies at College Calvin in Geneva in 1971, majoring in Greek and Latin. After receiving his M. D. from the School of Medicine at the University of Geneva in 1978, Morabia trained in internal medicine at the University Hospital of Geneva and in occupational medicine in Italy. He is board certified in both internal medicine and occupational medicine. In 2009, he was appointed Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. In 1986, Morabia received a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation to study at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, where he obtained M. P.H. and Ph. D. degrees in epidemiology, the first such PhD awarded to a Swiss citizen, and an M. H.S. in biostatistics. In August 1990, he became chair of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit at the University Hospital of Geneva, the first epidemiology group ever created in a Swiss hospital. Under his leadership, the unit grew into a division, and he was subsequently appointed professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Geneva. He is currently professor of clinical epidemiology at the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, and professor of epidemiology at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York.