Kenneth J. Rothman

KJ Rothman

 Kenneth J. Rothman (born October 11, 1935) is an American lawyer and politician from Missouri. He served as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Missouri from 1981 to 1985.

Rothman was born and raised in St. Louis and attended public schools. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with an A.B. in history and political science and also received his law degree from Washington University.

Rothman earned his Dr.P.H. and his M.P.H. degrees from Harvard School of Public Health and his D.D.M. degree from Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

 Rothman has dedicated his career to the development and teaching of the concepts and methods of epidemiologic research and has authored or co-authored more than 250 scholarly publications. Students will recognize him as the author of two widely read epidemiologic textbooks: Modern Epidemiology and Epidemiology, An Introduction. His research spans a wide range of health issues including cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, birth defects, and environmental and pharmaceutical health risks.

Rothman is a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health and the vice-president for Epidemiology Research at Research Triangle Institute Health Solution. He was the founding editor of Epidemiology, assistant editor of the American Journal of Public Health, editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology, and a member of the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine and the international advisory board of The Lancet. He is a past president of the Society for Epidemiologic Research, an honorary fellow of the American College of Epidemiology, and fellow and former member of the board of directors of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.

Dr. Rothman has more than 30 years professional experience in Epidemiologic research. His recent research has included work on the teratogenicity of vitamin A, the health effects of cellular telephone use, and potential environmental risk factors for cancer. He has also conducted epidemiologic research on the epidemiology of cancer, cardiovascular disease, birth defects, environmental epidemiology, and methodologic, conceptual and ethical issues in epidemiology.

Dr. Rothman authored two widely used textbook of epidemiologic methods, Modern Epidemiology and Epidemiology: an Introduction, and is the founding editor of Epidemiology, a leading public health journal. He received the American Public Health Association’s Abraham Lilienfeld Award for 2002, recognizing excellence in the teaching of epidemiology during the course of a career, is a Fellow of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, and an honorary fellow of the American College of Epidemiology. Dr. Rothman holds the position of Vice President for Epidemiologic Research at RTI Health Solutions, and an adjunct faculty position with the Department of Medical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm.