November 19, 2009

Richard Kaslow. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Richard Kaslow, M.D., M.P.H., a professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health, has been named winner of the 2009 John Snow Award by the American Public Health Association.

The award, presented Nov. 9 at the association's annual meeting in Philadelphia, honors the late British physician John Snow, considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology. During the historic 1854 cholera outbreak in London, Snow used his knowledge of nearby neighborhoods to create a map of each cholera death and trace the outbreak to a single water source, the famous Broad Street pump.

Kaslow is a preeminent epidemiologist whose research focuses on the immunogenetic determinants in AIDS and other infectious and immune diseases. A professor in the UAB departments of Epidemiology, Medicine, Microbiology and Genetics, Kaslow is engaged in leading-edge research on variations in genes for human leukocyte antigen (HLA), a group of molecules that orchestrate immune response. His work focuses on the role of these genes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other infections.

Kaslow graduated from Yale University and earned medical and public-health degrees from Harvard University. He spent more than two decades working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the National Institutes of Health as an epidemiologist.

He joined the UAB faculty in 1995 and directs the Program in Epidemiology of Infection and Immunity within the School of Public Health. Kaslow also is a senior scientist with UAB's Center for AIDS Research, Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Comprehensive Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Autoimmunity Center. He also has served on various national advisory panels and on the editorial boards of several professional journals.

About the UAB School of Public Health

The School of Public Health is a community of scholars and professionals working and teaching in varied arenas of public health with the goal of fostering research and best practices crucial to the health of our nation and its peoples. The school offers more than 20 areas of study and manages dozens of research and community-service centers.