Les Roberts (epidemiologist)

Les Roberts (epidemiologist)

Les Roberts (epidemiologist) (b.1961 - ) was the first winner of the Center for Disease Control's Paul C. Schnitker Award for contributions to Global Health. He became prominent in the news just before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, for his study estimating that 100,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed in the Iraq war, at a time when official U.S. government estimates were much lower. In October 2006, an expanded followup study was released that gave a point estimate of 654,965 deaths having occurred, within a 95 percent confidence interval from 392,979 to 942,636. U.S. President George W. Bush dismissed the new study, saying the approach had been "pretty well discredited", without explaining how. However, numerous statisticians supported the study. fix
link=Wikipedia:Citation needed
text=citation needed
class=noprint Template-Fact
title=This claim needs references to reliable sources
date=July 2008
cat=
cat-date=Category:Articles with unsourced statements

Roberts is the lead author of the earlier 2004 study, co-authored with four others, and was the lead investigator in the field. The study, titled "Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: cluster sample survey," was published in "The Lancet," a prestigious peer-reviewed journal. See Lancet surveys of casualties of the Iraq War for a detailed discussion. Those results have since been confirmed by a study released by the Iraqi government. fix
link=Wikipedia:Citation needed
text=citation needed
class=noprint Template-Fact
title=This claim needs references to reliable sources
date=July 2008
cat=
cat-date=Category:Articles with unsourced statements
Roberts' first important contribution came from a study among refugees in Malawi conducted for the United Nations regarding the effects of narrow-necked water containers that showed most water contamination came from the hands of refugees. Since that study, narrow-necked water containers have become a standard component of humanitarian relief programs.

Roberts campaigned for office in 2006, running in the Democratic primary for the U.S. House of Representatives seat of the 24th Congressional District in Chenango County, New York. He withdrew from the running on May 17 and endorsed the remaining Democratic candidate in the race, who was later elected.

Roberts was Director of Health Policy at the International Rescue Committee. In 1994 he worked in Rwanda for the World Health Organization [http://forcedmigration.columbia.edu/faculty/roberts.html Faculty page for Les Roberts] . Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.] , and performed a similar study to estimate the number of Rwandan refugees. In 2000, he performed a similar study which estimated 1.7 million deaths due to the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo [http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/congo/index.html] . This study met with widespread acceptance when published [http://www.theirc.org/index.cfm?section=what&wwwID=441&topicID=86&ppID=441] , and resulted and was cited in a U.N. Security Council resolution that all foreign armies must leave Congo, a United Nations request for $140 million in aid, and a pledge by the US State Department for an additional $10 million in aid.

In 2008, Roberts is an Associate Clinical Professor of Population and Family Health at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health..

Roberts obtained a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1992 and has been a regular lecturer there. Roberts did post-graduate fellowship work with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. He obtained a master's degree in public health from Tulane University in 1986 and an undergraduate degree in physics at St. Lawrence University in 1983. He grew up in Onondaga, New York and graduated from Westhill Senior High School in 1979.

References

External links

* [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/06/21/first.person/ Les Roberts' personal account of his mission in the Congo, from CNN]
* [http://socialistworker.org.uk/art.php?id=6271 "Counting the dead in Iraq"] . Interview with Les Roberts. "Socialist Worker" (UK), 23 April 2005.
* [http://media.www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2008/01/30/Opinion/Qa.Les.Roberts-3176859.shtml "Q&A: Les Roberts"] . By Matthew Chavez. January 30, 2008. "The Daily Lobo" (daily campus newspaper of University of New Mexico).


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Les Roberts — is the name of: *Les Roberts (mystery novel writer) *Les Roberts (epidemiologist) *Les Roberts (radio host) …   Wikipedia

  • Roberts (surname) — Roberts derives from the Saxon/Norman given name Robert, meaning bright fame ndash; from the Germanic elements hrod meaning fame and beraht meaning bright. Robert may also mean Son of Robert .Fact|date=September 2007 The name is common in both… …   Wikipedia

  • Lancet surveys of Iraq War casualties — The Lancet , one of the oldest scientific medical journals in the world, published two peer reviewed studies on the effect of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation on Iraqi mortality. The first was published in 2004; the second (by… …   Wikipedia

  • Calendar of 2003 — ▪ 2004 January So long as there is a single Brazilian brother or sister going hungry, we have ample reason to be ashamed of ourselves. Lula, in his inaugural address as president of Brazil, January 1 January 1       The Socialist Lula (Luiz… …   Universalium

  • Emanuel School — Infobox UK school name = Emanuel School size = 160px latitude = longitude = dms = motto = Pour Bien Desirer (French: The Noble Aim ) motto pl = established = 1594 school crest = Tudor Rose over Portcullis approx = closed = c approx = type = HMC… …   Wikipedia

  • List of English people — This is a partial list of English people of note and of some notable individuals born in England, alphabetically within categories.Actors and actresses*Dame Julie Andrews (born 1935) *Naveen Andrews (born 1969) *Gabrielle Anwar (born 1970) *Rowan …   Wikipedia

  • List of University of Sydney people — This is a list of notable staff and alumni of the University of Sydney, Australia.AlumniPolitics and Law* President of the United Nations General Assembly (1948 1949), Dr H.V. Evatt * Governors General of Australia Sir John Kerr, Sir William… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”