Harvard School of Public Health - Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

Page 9 text:

EPIDEMIOLOGY O’ROURKE, INGALLS. PHILBROOK. GORDON. TAYLOR. RUBENSTEIN, PUGH The Department of Epidemiology was established in 1922 with Dr. Milton J. Rosenau as Head of the Department. Upon Dr. Rosenau ' s retirement he was succeeded by Brigadier General F rede rick F. Russell and in 1938 by Dr. John E. Gordon, the present Professor of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology. The Department has as its principal objectives: (1) to provide basic postgraduate training in epidemiology for students of public health; (2) to train a limited number of specialists in epidemiology; (3) to con¬ duct epidemiologic investigations of mass disease; (4) to conduct field studies and provide consultation for operating public health agencies and industry. Current research activities include the fields of congenital anomalies, alcoholism, diarrheas and dysenteries, accidents and whooping cough. -9-

Page 8 text:

BIOSTATISTICS REED, DROLETTE, WORCESTER, MUENCH From its inception, the objective of the teaching program of the School of Public Health has been to provide the scientific groundwork of expert knowledge which underlies efficient health administration. The faculty has held steadily to the belief that some familiarity with statistics con¬ stitutes part of this expert knowledge , since graduates of the School work¬ ing in administration or in research find themselves in positions where theymust initiate and evaluate programs. Consequently, a basic course in statistics has been required of all students unless they have been able to demonstrate equivalent preparation. Although the name of the Depart¬ ment was changed from Vital Statistics to Biostatistics in 1946, the teaching objectives have remained the same. All departments in the School try to maintain a balance between teaching, research and community service. The research activities vary with the backgrounds of the individuals which are diverse. The Department has a unique opportunity to offer community service, since its staff consti¬ tutes the only group of statisticians in the medical area. During the course of the year many students and many members of the staff of this School, of the Medical School, and of the as sociated hospitals can be found in the offices of the Department seeking advice on their own special problems. -8-

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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SILVERMAN, FIRST, YAGLOU, MC FARLAND, AMDUR, DRINKER WILLIAMS, THOMSON The basement at 55 Shattuck Street makes one think of those sections of a museum not open to the public. Visitors for the first time see an intricate outlay of laboratories and strange equipment whose utility is not immediately apparent (unless Mr. Thomson is there to explain). Yet the benefits coming from this Department of Industrial Hygiene have spread to class rooms, shipyards, ships, wards, steel mills, mines and factories of all kinds in many countries. Around Professor Drinker, an engineer, a group of engineers and phy¬ sicians cooperate in achieving the broad objectives of Occupational Health including prevention, diagnosis and treatment of occupational diseases as well as appraisal and control of working environment. The main courses are given inclose cooperation with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Physiology and the Massachusetts General Hospital. Research ranges from creation of desirable atmos¬ pheric conditions for miners and premature babies to development of masks and respirators, accident prevention and studies of air contam¬ inants and radiation. Publications from the Department are known the world over, especially the books by Drinker, McFarland and Hamilton and Hardy. Professor Drinker is also Editor of the Archives of Indus¬ trial Hygiene and Occupational Medicine. -10-