2016 Congress Awards Overview

This Congress award was established in the name of Dr. Abraham (“Abe”) M. Lilienfeld (1920-1984), a scholar and pioneer in the field, who is remembered for his transformation of epidemiology from a discipline limited to infectious diseases to one concerned with the full spectrum of diseases that result in unnecessary mortality and morbidity, whatever the cause.  First interested in epidemiology by Dr. Morton Levin (whose 1950 study of cigarette smoking and lung cancer validated findings by Wynder and Graham) during World War II, Abe entered the public health training program at the New York State Department of Health (Albany).  Abe subsequently went to Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health (SHPH), from which he obtained his M.P H. degree.  Coming under the influences of Professors Alexander Langmuir (who subsequently went to the Communicable Disease Center to establish the Epidemic Intelligence Service—with which Lilienfeld would be active during the 1950s) and William G. Cochran, Abe resettled in Baltimore, working for the City Department of Health and, subsequently, on the faculty at SHPH.  He was subsequently recruited to the Roswell Park Institute in Buffalo.  He found a strong local epidemiology community (including Saxon Graham, Warren Winkelstein, Milton Terris, and Rema La Pousse).  Abe focused on the epidemiologies of breast cancer, lung cancer, and cervix.  When he was recruited back to SHPH to build a training program in chronic diseases, he expanded his research interests to other cancers, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and gastrointestinal disorders.  He continued his methodological interests, for example, the first examination of the effect of misclassification on epidemiologic study findings.  In 1964, Abe was asked by President Lyndon Johnson to direct the staff of the Presidential Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke.  He recruited to the staff three recently-trained epidemiologists who would themselves become leaders of the epidemiology community:  Nemat Borhani, David Schottenfeld, and Maureen Henderson.  (One of the Commission’s recommendations led to the funding of Medlars, the digitalization of the Index Medicus.)  He also fostered the development of logistic regression for analyzing epidemiologic study data (1967) and campaigned vigorously (and ultimately successfully) for the continuation of the Framingham Heart Study in 1968 when the National Institutes of Health began to close the study.  After Abe became Chair of the SHPH Department of Epidemiology, he overhauled the graduate and post-graduate epidemiology training program.  (At one time, one-half of the chairs of epidemiology departments in schools of public health had been Lilienfeld’s students.)  One of the founders of and visiting faculty for the Summer Program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Abe was cognizant of the need for epidemiologists to interact; he subsequently organized (with Milton Terris and Brian McMahon) the Society for Epidemiological Research.  Building on his view of epidemiology as an eclectic discipline (for which reason he established the Inter-Departmental Library at SHPH, which was subsequently named for him), Abe subsequently chaired the Departments of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Hygiene.  As Director of the M.P.H. program, he initiated an overhaul of the program, which led to the establishment of the SHPH summer training program. During the 1970s, Abe’s interest extended to the history of epidemiology, for which he was recognized by the American Association for the History of Medicine in 1982 with one of its most prestigious awards, the Fielding Garrison Lecturer.  Abe continued his history work while during his tenure as the Heath Clark Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  An informal professor (he rarely wore a tie), Abe was a tireless advocate for students.  He was elected President of the American Epidemiological Society and as a Fellow of the American Public Health Association and the American Statistical Association.  He was also the organizer and first President of the Committee of Chairs of Epidemiology Training Programs.  In 1979, he began the American College of Epidemiology, serving as its first President.  In addition to his visionary perspective of epidemiology, Abe was particularly known for his vibrant teaching, his lack of self-interest, his willingness to help others, and his unwavering devotion to advancing overall public health science.

The Award

The recipient’s achievements will be commemorated with a plaque, a cash award, and the opportunity to present as part of a plenary session.

Eligibility and Evaluation Criteria

The award is open to any member of the affiliated sponsoring organizations that comprise the 2016 Congress of Epidemiology.  The selection of the Awardees will be made solely on the basis of the candidate’s scientific and professional accomplishments without regard to race, gender, nationality, geographic location, or religious or political views.

The successful nominee should be stellar in his/her field and be known for a distinguished record of diverse productivity in epidemiologic teaching, research, and practice.  This award seeks to recognize exceptional individuals whose accomplishments convey Dr. Lilienfeld’s broad vision of epidemiology and his selfless devotion to all aspects of advancing public health science.

Application Documentation

• A letter of nomination
• A Curriculum Vita

• Upon primary review selected candidates will be asked to provide no more than 5 letters of support from supervisors or colleagues.