Morrow Honored with APHA International Health Lifetime Achievement Award (web article)

Richard Morrow, MD, a professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of International Health, received the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Health Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Morrow was recognized for his contributions to the study of tropical diseases, epidemiological methods, quality-assurance management and the measurement of the burden of disease on populations.

His early work in Ghana and Uganda in the 1960’s, focused on clinical and epidemiological research of tropical and endemic diseases, including hepatitis B, Burkitt’s lymphoma, Mycobacterium ulcerans and malaria. When he returned to Ghana in the 1970’s Morrow was instrumental in establishing a new health-planning unit for the Ministry of Health. His interests focused on the development of useful tools applicable for health planning and policy formulation through quantitative measures of disease burden, which can estimate healthy life time gained per dollar expended. He joined the World Health Organization Tropical Disease Research Program in 1979. While there, he developed epidemiologic methods for randomized field trials for interventions against infectious diseases. Since coming to Hopkins 15 years ago, Morrow has concentrated his efforts on applying quality assurance management methods to health planning and implementation at district and community-based primary health care levels.

Morrow said he believes his most important legacy will be his role as mentor to the many hundreds of students throughout the world who have been able to advance their individual careers and increase their institutional capacity for the greater good of public health globally.

The International Health Section of APHA was founded in 1976 to provide leadership and a focus on international public health issues within the organization. The Section includes over 1,500 members in 60 countries and in practically every U.S. state. Morrow received the lifetime achievement award at the APHA International Health Section’s awards night, November 6, in Boston, Mass.