Geoffrey Rose

Geoffrey Rose DM, DSC, FRCP, FFPHM, was an eminent epidemiologist whose ideas have been credited with transforming the approach to strategies for improving health. [Kay-Tee Khaw , "Rose's Strategy of Preventive Medicine", Oxford University Press, USA; Updated edition (March 15, 2008)] He was formerly the Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology at the Department of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Early Life and Career

Geoffrey Rose was born in 1926M Porta, "Persistent toxic substances: exposed individuals and exposed populations", Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain, and School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA] . In 1958 he joined the epidemiology department of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine ("LSHTM")and became a 'part-time' Reader in 1964. In 1970 he became the 'Visiting Professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine' and was elected to Full Professor of Epidemiology in 1977. [ [http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/library/archives/chronology.html Chronology of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine] ] In his time at the LSHTM he worked with many pioneering epidemiologists, including Donald Reid. He was also responsible for starting the Masters in Epidemiology course.

Influence

Of his numerous publications, there are two that stand out in terms of their influence on the discipline of epidemiology, the seminal 1985 article "Sick Individuals and Sick Populations" and his 1992 book "The Strategy of Preventive Medicine". The impact goes beyond the field of epidemiology and into that of public health generally. One publication claimed that "A casual Social Sciences Citation Index search yielded over 700 citations of this work".S Schwartz and R Diez-Roux, "Causes of incidence and causes of cases—a Durkheimian perspective on Rose", "International Journal of Epidemiology" 2001;30:435-439, International Epidemiological Association 2001] As S Schwartz and R Diez-Roux pointed out, the central lesson that has been integrated into the aforementioned fields is that "a large number of people at a small risk may give rise to more cases of disease than the small number who are at high risk". It was their assertion that this insight of Rose has profound implications for intervention and prevention strategies, and has been incorporated into research contexts through an understanding of the difference between measures of absolute and relative risk.

Porta made it clear that it was Rose who crystallised the notion that "as citizens and societies we have shared, common responsibilities in front of threats to health is central to epidemiology, public health, even to clinical medicine" when Rose inscribed these words of Fyodor Dostoyevsky on the lintel of "The Strategy of Preventive Medicine": "We are all responsible for all".

It was reasserted by Doyle, Furey and Flowers, writing in 2005, that the central messages expounded by Rose remain highly relevant to modern public health policy and practice. [Y G Doyle, A Furey, J Flowers, "Sick individuals and sick populations: 20 years later", South East London Strategic Health Authority and European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK; Eastern Region Public Health Observatory, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge, UK, 2005]

Honours and Awards

*Donald Reid Medal for Epidemiology in 1985.

References