Aubrey Sheiham (12 September 1936 – 24 November 2015) was born in

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...

, South Africa and became a British academic, a dental

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent diseases. It is a cornerstone ...

and emeritus professor of Dental Public Health, School of Life and Medical Sciences at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He was an inspiring lecturer and opened out and developed the field of public oral health and dentistry. He graduated from the

University of Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

in 1957. He was the spouse of the British philosopher

Helena Cronin Helena Cronin (born 1942) is a British Darwinian philosopher and rationalist. She is the co-director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science and the Darwin Centre at the London School of Economics. Her 1991 book, ''The Ant an ...

. Sheiham died of

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...

. The Audrey Sheiham Evidence-Based Health Care in Africa Leadership Award has been granted annually by the

Cochrane Collaboration Cochrane is a British international charitable organisation formed to synthesize medical research findings to facilitate evidence-based choices about health interventions involving health professionals, patients and policy makers. It includes ...

since 2001 to a researcher from a low to middle income country. The funding for the award comes from an endowment by Sheiham and Cronin.

References

1936 births 2015 deaths British epidemiologists Academics of University College London People from Graaff-Reinet Deaths from mesothelioma University of the Witwatersrand alumni 20th-century British dentists {{UK-academic-bio-stub