100 years of Public Health

1845: Dr. Austin Flint, UB School of Medicine founding faculty member, publishes his examination of a local fever outbreak. “Father of field epidemiology” John Snow references the work.

1912: A course in hygiene joins the requirements list for UB medical students.

1918: An influenza outbreak begins in Buffalo, contributing to 2000+ deaths in the city, 50,000,000 worldwide.

1918: UB medical students aid local hospitals and temporary medical facilities during the flu pandemic’s height.

1919: UB founds the Department of Hygiene and Public Health, one of first universities in the U.S. with an academic department for training public health officers and studying disease epidemics.

1930s: Department of Hygiene and Public Health researchers publish a disease survey on milk consumption in Buffalo.

1956: The Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health moves to the former U.S. Marine Hospital, 2211 Main St., Buffalo.

1960s: The Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health researchers complete the Buffalo Health Study, one of the field’s first community-based studies of a random population sample.

1963: A landmark Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health air pollution study guides regulators developing standards for the federal Clean Air Act.

1980s: The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine researchers impact chronic-disease epidemiology with examinations of cancer, cardiovascular disease and reproductive epidemiology fields.

1993: UB is the vanguard site for the Women’s Health Initiative, a clinical trial and observational study of the major causes of illness and death for postmenopausal women.

2003: The School of Public Health and Health Professions is developed at UB, with the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine joining the new school.

2010s: The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine increases its focus and resources on improving the health of communities. Researchers investigate the effects of the microbiome on chronic disease; air pollution and reproduction; transgenerational effects of arsenic exposure; and the effects of nutrition on growth in low-/middle-income countries.

2010: The Division of Environmental Health Sciences launches, offering resources for environmental health education, research and service opportunities at UB.

2014: The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine changes name to Epidemiology and Environmental Health to reflect ongoing focus on preventing disease, delivering care, teaching about public health. The Division of Health Services Policy and Practice, which combines innovative research and training, gets its first permanent director, Katia Noyes, PhD.

2019: Group portrait photo of Epidemiology and Environmental Health faculty and staff at Farber Hall. Degree programs include 3 MPH, MS and PhD; 85 students; 64 full-time and associated faculty; 100% placement of department graduates.

James Marshall, Saxon Graham, Jo Freudenheim at Saxon Graham lecture given by Dr. Marshall, 2011.

William Haenszel, a graduate of the University of Buffalo (B.A. in sociology and mathematics 1931, M.A. in statistics 1932), worked in epidemiology at Roswell Park. A co-author of the Mantel-Haenszel test. At the National Cancer Institute, organized the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, the national system for cancer surveillance.

Archibald Dean, Chair of the Department, then Preventive Medicine & Public Health, 1945-1960.

Milton Terris, faculty of the Department, then Preventive Medicine and Public Health, 1951-57. Subsequently Professor at Tulane University, then Head of the Chronic Disease Unit of the NYC Public Health Research Institute and Chair of Preventive Medicine at New York Medical College. Served as President of the APHA and founded the Journal of Public Health Policy.

Abraham Lilienfeld, UB faculty, 1954-58. Founding chair of the Department of Statistics and Biological Research at Roswell Park. Was a leader in working to include chronic disease research as part of the purview of epidemiology. Served as Chair of the Department of Chronic Diseases and of the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins.

Edward Marra, first full-time chair of the Department, then Preventive Medicine and Public Health, changing to Social and Preventive Medicine, 1960-1976; established the masters degree program in epidemiology. Photo courtesy, University Archives.

Michel Ibrahim, faculty member in the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine, 1964-71. Went on to become the Dean of the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Editor-in-Chief of Epidemiologic Reviews, now Professor Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University. Was a founding Director of the American College of Epidemiology.

David Sackett, part of the Chronic Disease Research Institute at UB, 1963-67. Went on to found the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. Was instrumental in making evidence-based medicine a critical part of medical practice.

Craig Turnbull, part of the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine, 1965-68; collaborated with Winkelstein. Went on to become professor of biostatistics, UNC Chapel Hill.

Warren Winkelstein, a leading epidemiologist, worked in Buffalo 1950-68 at the Erie County Department of Health and then at UB, collaborating Abe Lilienfeld at the UB School of Medicine, Chronic Disease Research Institute. He and colleagues conducted a landmark population-based cross-sectional study in Buffalo of factors associated with blood pressure.

Robert Wallace, one of the first two graduates of the UB masters degree in epidemiology program, 1972. Served in Buffalo as an Epidemiology Intelligence Service officer with the Erie County Health Department. Currently Professor, Irene Ensminger Stecher Professorship in Cancer Research, University of Iowa.

Harry Sultz, Acting Chair of the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine, 1976 -1979, then Dean of the UB School of Health Related Professions. Author, with Kristina Young, of a leading textbook regarding health care organization in the US. Photo courtesy, University Archives.

Clarence Cooper, David Sackett, Warren Winkelstein, Craig Turnbull, Robert Partridge, Michel Ibrahim, Sy Kantor, Irene Andruczyk. Robert Partridge served as an EIS officer in Erie County and at UB.

Saxon Graham, Chair of the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine, from 1981-1991, was among the preeminent cancer epidemiologists of his time, known for groundbreaking studies examining diet and cancer beginning in the 1950s. A founding Director of the American College of Epidemiology and a President of the Society for Epidemiologic Research.

Tim Beyers, professor in the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine, 1981 to 1987. Was an integral part of a leading research group examining the role of diet in cancer etiology and prevention and doing methodological work on diet assessment.

John Vena received his PhD from UB, Professor in the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine, 1981-2003. Expert in environmental and occupational epidemiology. Now Professor and founding Chair, Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina. Photo courtesy University Archives.

Maurizio Trevisan, SUNY Distinguished Professor, former Chair of the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine, 1991-2014. Founding Dean, School of Public Health and Health Professions, UB, 2014-2007. Currently Dean, CUNY School of Medicine. Distinguished record of research on cardiovascular disease epidemiology, co-pi for the UB site of the Women’s Health Initiative.

Maurizio Trevisan; Jean Wactawski-Wende, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, 1999-present, Dean, UB School of Public Health and Health Professions, 2014-present. Co-PI for the UB Women’s Health Initiative, expert in women’s health, epidemiology of osteoporosis, periodontal disease, systemic disease epidemiology.

Jo Freudenheim, UB Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, 2003-13, 2014-present. Expert in epidemiology of breast cancer, DNA methylation and lung effects of electronic cigarette use. Photo courtesy University Archives.

Vittorio Krogh, Research associate in the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine, 1985-91. Currently Director of Epidemiology and Prevention at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.

James Marshall, John Vena, Maria Zielezny, Robert O’Shea, Tim Byers, Saxon Graham. Maria Zielezny, Associate Professor in the Department, then Social and Preventive Medicine contributing critical statistical expertise to research with Graham, Marshall, Byers and Vena, among others.

Robert O’Shea, Dennis Bertram, Brian Pech, Michael Noe, Terry Pechacek, Charles Pruitt, Jo Freudenheim, Maurizio Trevisan, Maria Zieleznyf. Faculty at the time of the formation of the preventive medicine residency and Dr. Pech, the first resident in the program (approx. 1990).

Dennis Bertram, Jo Freudenheim, John Vena, Maria Zielezny, Robert O’Shea, James Marshall, Maurizio Trevisan, Saxon Graham.

James Marshall, Tim Byers at Saxon Graham lecture given by Dr. Byers, 2015.

Henry Lin, MD ’15, PhD ’15, MS ’16, Ophthalmology Medical Resident, Department of Ophthalmology, University at Buffalo

Dierdre Wheat, MD, MMedSci, PCME, MPH ’10, Clinical Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Environmental Health,Associate Medical Director for Quality, Disease and Case Management, Independent Health, Buffalo

Lamya Hamad, MPH ’13, Clinical Oncology Pharmacist, Department of Pharmacy, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Caila Vaughn, MPH ’12, PhD ’16, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, University at Buffalo

Brian King, BS ’04, MPH ’06, PhD ’10, Deputy Director for Research Translation, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Joel Merriman, MPH ’12, Lieutenant, US Public Health Service, Regulatory Officer, US Food and Drug Administration

Kelly Kamm, PhD ’14, Research Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI

Rebecca Hammett, MPH ’16, Erie County Department of Health-Lead Prevention Program, Buffalo, NY

Lyndsey Milcarek, MPH ’15, Physician Assistant, UR Medical

Zuwena Plata, MPH ’16, Associate Clinical Data Manager, Axovant Sciences

Xiaodan Mai, PhD ’15, Epidemiologist, UnitedHealth Group, Buffalo, NY

Sarah Ackroyd MPH ’12, MD, OB/GYN medical resident, Temple University Hospital

Amanda Ziegler, MPH ’13, Research Coordinator, Nutrition and Health Research Lab, University at Buffalo

Angela Pieprzak, PharmD ’16, MPH ’16, Clinical Pharmacist, Univera Healthcare