National EPI Organization Elects UIC SPH Professor As President

University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health Professor Faith Davis was elected president of the American College of Epidemiology.

Dr. Davis, who is also associate dean for research at UIC SPH, was chosen by ACE membership and will serve as president-elect for 2009-2010 and as president the following year.

“It’s an honor to be elected by one’s peers to a national organization,” Davis said. “It is a particular honor for me to be elected as president of ACE, as its primary focus is on supporting the discipline [epidemiology] by having crosscutting annual meetings with workshops on emerging topics that reflect future challenges to the field.”

“This group is constantly working at the intersection between science and policy, between academics and practice, and in mentoring junior epidemiologists in the field,” she added.

As an epidemiologist, educator and researcher, Davis hopes to keep ACE members engaged and active.

“We are facing difficult times in academics and science, so it is increasingly important that we attract high-quality people into the field and then provide them with the tools to be successful,” she said. “My objective is to keep our annual meetings vibrant and healthy, to listen to the needs of our members, so that we can understand and address the emerging needs of the profession.”

Davis’ research interests focus on cancer epidemiology, particularly rare cancers, including brain tumors and radiation exposures. She conducted work with the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, which culminated in a change of legislation regarding how brain tumor data is collected in U.S. surveillance systems.

Davis is also currently the principal investigator on a study funded by the Department of Energy on evaluating the carcinogenic risks of environmental exposures experienced by residents in the Southern Urals of Russia.

With 25 years of experience in conducting epidemiology research, Davis has published over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts. She has served on local, regional and national review and advisory committees, including the radiation advisory board for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a board member of the Illinois division of the American Cancer Society.

At UIC SPH, Davis currently directs two training grants, one focused on cancer prevention and the other on trans-disciplinary public health research.

>> Tina Daniel