Kenneth J. Rothman (born November 2, 1945) is an American epidemiologist. He is a professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, as well as a Distinguished Fellow at

RTI International Research Triangle Institute, operating as RTI International, is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, USA. RTI provides research and technical services. It was founded in 1958 with $500,000 in fu ...

, where he is Vice President for Epidemiologic Research at RTI Health Solutions.

Education

Rothman earned his Dr.P.H. and his M.P.H. degrees from the

Harvard 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 ...

and his D.M.D. degree from the

Harvard School of Dental Medicine The Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) is the dental school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to the DMD degree, HSDM offers specialty training programs, advanced train ...

Work

Rothman is known for his work on, and teaching about, epidemiologic research methodology, as well as multiple specific epidemiologic subjects, including the teratogenic effects of

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is an essential nutrient. The term "vitamin A" encompasses a group of chemically related organic compounds that includes retinol, retinyl esters, and several provitamin (precursor) carotenoids, most not ...

, the health effects of mobile phone use, and possible environmental causes of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. He is also the author of two widely used epidemiology textbooks. In 1990, he wrote a controversial article arguing that it might not be worth epidemiologists' time for them to investigate most cancer clusters.

Honors, awards and positions

Rothman received the

American Public Health Association The American Public Health Association (APHA) is a Washington, D.C.–based professional membership and advocacy organization for public health professionals in the United States. APHA is the largest professional organization of public health pr ...

’s Abraham Lilienfeld Award for 2002, recognizing excellence in the teaching of epidemiology during the course of a career. He is also a Fellow of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, the past president of the Society for Epidemiologic Research, and an honorary fellow of the American College of Epidemiology. In 2002 the journal Epidemiology renamed its annual prize the "Kenneth Rothman Epidemiology Prize".

Editorial activities

In 1990, Rothman founded the journal ''

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

'', and subsequently served as its founding editor until 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothman, Kenneth J. Cancer epidemiologists Medical journal editors 1945 births Living people Boston University School of Public Health faculty Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni Harvard School of Dental Medicine alumni