David John Hunter is an Australian epidemiologist and the Richard Doll Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at Oxford Population Health. He was previously a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and the Department of Nutrition of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He was associate epidemiologist at the Channing Laboratory,

Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH or The Brigham) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...

, where he was involved with the programs in breast cancer, cancer epidemiology, and cancer genetics research teams. Hunter directs the Translational Epidemiology Unit (TEU) at Oxford Population Health, and leads a collaborative project between Oxford and the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

Early life and education

David Hunter was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England and while a young child moved with his family to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia, where he earned his medical degree (MBBS) in 1982. He then moved to the United States for graduate study at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he earned both a master's degree (MPH, 1985) and a doctorate (ScD, 1988) in public health.

Career

Hunter spent 33 years at Harvard where he was Acting Dean of the Faculty and before that Dean for Academic Affairs at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He is Vincent L. Gregory Professor in Cancer Prevention, Emeritus. , he is Richard Doll Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 2021, he was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of The Academy of Medical Sciences.

Research

Hunter's principal career research interests are the aetiology of various cancers, particularly breast, colorectal, and skin cancers, and prostate cancer in men. He was an investigator on the

Nurses' Health Study The Nurses Health Study is a series of prospective studies that examine epidemiology and the long-term effects of nutrition, hormones, environment, and nurses' work-life on health and disease development. The studies have been among the largest i ...

, a long-running

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: Cohort Sociological * Cohort (military unit), the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum Scientific * Cohort ...

of 121,000 U.S. women, and was project director for the Nurses’ Health Study II, a cohort of 116,000 women followed since 1989. His focus is on genetic susceptibility to these cancers, and gene-environment interactions. This work was originally based in subcohorts of the Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study of approximately 33,000 women and 18,000 men who have given a blood sample that can be used for DNA analysis.

Cancer Consortia

Until 2012, Hunter was co-chair of the Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium and co-director of the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS) Special Initiative of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

(NCI). These projects are large collaborative consortia in order to obtain the necessarily large sample sizes and to assess consistency of results across studies.

HIV research and global health

In the 1980s and 1990s, he collaborated with investigators in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

on early studies of HIV transmission, and subsequently he collaborated on studies of nutritional aspects of AIDS progression as they relate to child survival in affected populations. He co-edited a series of articles on

global health Global health is the health of populations in a worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problems th ...

which were published in the

New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Founded in 1812, the journal is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals. Its 2023 impact factor was ...

, for which he also serves as a statistical editor.

University of Oxford

In 2017, Hunter moved to the University of Oxford as the Richard Doll Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine in the

Nuffield Department of Population Health The Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH) of Oxford University is located at the Old Road Campus in Headington, Oxford, England. It is one of the largest departments within Oxford University's Medical Sciences Division. The head of ...

(now the Oxford Population Health) and as a Governing Board Fellow of

Green Templeton College Green Templeton College (GTC) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the former Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and is ...

. He directs a Unit focused on translating disease risk information into population health and clinical practice. , he is Chief Science Advisor to Our Future Health, a major initiative of the UK Government. In 2021, he was elected as a Fellow by distinction of the UK

Faculty of Public Health The Faculty of Public Health (FPH) is a public health association in the United Kingdom established as a registered charity. It is the standard setting body for public health specialists within the United Kingdom, setting standards for training ...

, and elected as a

of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.

Publications

January 26, 2015, Most cancers not just "bad luck"

NCBI publications for Dr. David Hunter

Publications (Since 2012) for David Hunter

Honours

Hunter was appointed as a

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for "eminent service to medicine as an epidemiologist, particularly in relation to disease prevention and early detection, and to the aetiology of breast, colorectal, prostate and skin cancers".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, David Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty Health professionals from Boston Genetic epidemiologists Living people Australian epidemiologists Fellows of Green Templeton College, Oxford Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni Sydney Medical School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Companions of the Order of Australia English emigrants to Australia