June 30, 2011
Buffler elected to presidency of International Epidemiological Association
Patricia Buffler, professor of epidemiology and dean emerita at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, has been elected president of the International Epidemiological Association (IEA), a group with more than 1000 members in more than 100 different countries who facilitate communication amongst those engaged in research and teaching of epidemiology throughout the world, and to encourage its use in all fields of health including social, community, and preventative medicine. Buffler served as treasurer of IEA from 2008-2011. She will serve as president-elect for the 2011-2014 term.
Buffler holds the Kenneth Howard Kaiser & Marjorie Witherspoon Kaiser Endowed Chair in Cancer Epidemiology at the School of Public Health. She leads comprehensive and long-term studies on the molecular epidemiology of childhood leukemia and environmental exposures and leukemia, including the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study.
This is the first time that the IEA has held internet-based elections for the three executive positions. They received votes from 754 members, which is nearly four times the maximum number of votes that had been cast previously when the executive members were elected by those members attending the triennial World Congress.