S. Leonard Syme, PhD
Biography
S. Leonard Syme is a Professor of Epidemiology and Community Health (Emeritus) in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. During more than 20 years as Co-Principal Investigator at HRA, he has worked on developing community interventions to prevent disease and promote health. Pursuing his research interest on the relationship between health and such psychosocial factors as poverty, stress and social isolation. He has studied San Francisco bus drivers, civil servants in London, and Japanese living in Japan, Hawaii, and San Francisco. He has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science and won the J. D. Bruce Award for Distinguished Contributions in Preventive Medicine from the American College of Physicians, as well as the Wade Hampton Frost Award from the American Public Health Association for developing the field of Social Epidemiology. Len holds a PhD in Medical Sociology from Yale University, following a BA and an MA in Anthropology and Sociology at UCLA.
Research Interests
- Social determinants of disease
- Community interventions
- Developing community interventions to prevent disease and promote health
- Relationship between health and psychosocial factors like poverty, stress and social isolation
Education
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PhD – Medical Sociology
Yale University -
MA – Anthropology and Sociology
University of California, Los Angeles -
BA – Anthropology and Sociology
University of California, Los Angeles