- Devra Davis
-
Devra Lee Davis is an American epidemiologist and writer. She was born on June 7th, 1946, in Washington, DC[1], the daughter of Harry B. and Jean Langer Davis, and was raised in Donora and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Her career has spanned all areas of academia, public policy, and scientific research[2]. While Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, she counseled leading officials in the United States, United Nations, European Environment Agency, Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization, and World Bank[2].
She has also authored more than 190 publications in books and journals ranging from the Lancet and Journal of the American Medical Association to Scientific American and the New York Times and blogs in Freakonomics for the New York Times, Huffington Post and elsewhere[2].
Contents
Education
Davis graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and later received a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1967[1]. A former Scholar in Residence at the National Academy of Sciences, she completed her Ph.D. in science studies at the University of Chicago as a Danforth Fellow, and an M.P.H. at Johns Hopkins University as a National Cancer Institute post-doctoral fellow[1].
Professional life
From 1970 to 1976 she was assistant professor of sociology at Queens College of the City University of New York. Beginning in 1982 she was a faculty associate at Johns Hopkins University, Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Hygiene and Public Health[1].
She served as a visiting professor at University of Missouri in 1983; Municipal Institute, Barcelona, Spain, in 1985[1]; Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY, Department of Community Medicine, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, in 1988[1]; and visiting scholar at Hebrew University, School of Public Health, Unit of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 1989[1].
She is formerly the director of the Center for Environmental Oncology of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute[2]; the multidisciplinary center includes experts in medicine, basic research, engineering and public policy, who developed cutting-edge studies to identify the causes of cancer and propose policies to reduce the risks of the disease.
Other professional activities
A member of both the American Colleges of Toxicology and of Epidemiology[2], Dr. Davis is also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City[1]. In addition, she was a Visiting Scientist of the Strang Cornell Cancer Prevention Center of the Rockefeller University in 1994[1].
She served as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the U.S. National Toxicology Program, 1983-86[2].
Female health
Davis was Scientific Advisor to the Women's Environment and Development Organization in 1995[1]. Davis was also a founding member of the International Breast Cancer Prevention Collaborative Research Group[1], an organization dedicated to exploring the causes of breast cancer.
Environment
She currently serves on the Board of the Climate Institute[1], and the Coalition of Organizations on the Environment and Jewish Life[1], and the Earthfire Institute, and is a scientific adviser to the UK registered charity MobileWise.[3] She occasionally discusses avoidable environmental health hazards on national and local programming with NPR, Fox News, CNN, ABC, PBS, BBC[2]. She also served as a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the group awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with the Honorable Al Gore[2].
President Clinton appointed the Honorable Dr. Davis to the newly established Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an independent executive branch agency that investigates, prevents, and mitigates chemical accidents, where she served from 1994–99[2].
Awards
She was honored by the Betty Ford Comprehensive Cancer Center and the American Cancer Society with the Breast Cancer Awareness Award, commended by the Director of the National Cancer Institute for Outstanding Service, and appointed a Global Environmental advisor to Newsweek Magazine[2].
The recipient of a Women’s Leadership Exchange Compass Award, presented by OPEN: The Small Business Network from American Express, for breaking the paradigms of how women are perceived, Dr. Davis received the first Lisa Zhang Environmental Award from the United Nations in July 2008[2].
In June 2009, Dr. Davis was honored with the Artemis Award presented by the Euro-American Women's Council and the Greek Foreign Ministry in recognition of her outstanding contributions to science and public health policy[2].
Private Life
Davis married Richard D. Morgenstern on October 19, 1975. They have two children.
Publications
Her book When Smoke Ran Like Water, which begins with the tale of the Donora Smog of 1948, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2002[1][2]. Davis's second book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer was published by Basic Books in October 2007[1].
Her new book, Disconnect, debuted in September 2010. It discusses the dangers of modern cell phone use and the ways in which the cell phone industry has gone to lengths to cover these up.
Publications include:
- Trends in Cancer Mortality in Industrial Countries (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences), New York Academy of Sciences, 1990[1]
- Urban Air Pollution Risks to Children: A Global Environmental Health Indicator, World Resources Institute, 1999[1]
- When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception And the Battle Against Pollution, Diane Publishing Company, 2002
- The Secret History of the War on Cancer, Basic Books, 2007[1]
- Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family, Dutton Adult, 2010
Listening
- Fresh Air interview, October 4, 2007
- Writer's Voice interview, January, 2008
- TVO (Ontario) interview, October 3, 2008. Length: 26:54
Mainstream Media References
- "Cell-Phone Safety: What the FCC Didn't Test". Time.com. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2027523,00.html. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
External links
- http://www.epidemiology.pitt.edu/davis.asp - Devra Davis at the Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh
- http://www.environmentalhealthtrust.org/ - Environmental Health Trust, a web site maintained by the Devra Lee Davis Charitable Foundation
Reading
Source: Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2004. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000154775.
References
Categories:- Living people
- 1946 births
- Epidemiologists
- Writers from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh alumni
- University of Pittsburgh faculty
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
