Ali Mokdad

Director of Middle Eastern Initiatives

mokdaa@uw.edu

Areas of Expertise

Survey methodology; health surveys; surveillance; chronic diseases; emergency and response.

Bio

Ali Mokdad, PhD, is Director of Middle Eastern Initiatives and Professor of Global Health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. In this role, he is building IHME's presence in the region through new research projects, dissemination and uptake of IHME's methods and results, and consultation with regional leaders in population health.

Prior to joining IHME, Dr. Mokdad worked at the CDC, starting his career there in 1990. He served in numerous positions with the International Health Program; the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity; the National Immunization Program; and the National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Promotion, where he was Chief of the Behavioral Surveillance Branch.

Dr. Mokdad also managed and directed the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the world’s largest standardized telephone survey, which enables the CDC, state health departments, and other health and education agencies to monitor risk behaviors related to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States.

Dr. Mokdad has published more than 250 articles and numerous reports. He has received several awards, including the Global Health Achievement Award for his work in Banda Aceh after the tsunami, the Department of Health and Human Services Honor Award for his work on flu monitoring, and the Shepard Award for outstanding scientific contribution to public health for his work on BRFSS.

He received his BS in Biostatistics from the American University of Beirut and his PhD in quantitative epidemiology from Emory University.

Published Works

Olives C, Myerson R, Mokdad AH, Murray CJL, Lim SS. Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in United States counties, 2001-2009. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(4);e60308.

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Lim SS‡, Vos T, Flaxman AD, Danaei G, Shibuya K, Adair-Rohani H*, Amann M*, Anderson HR*, Andrews KG*, Aryee M*, Atkinson C*, Bacchus LJ*, Bahalim AN*, Balakrishnan K*, Balmes J*, Barker-Collo S*, Baxter A*, Bell ML*, Blore JD*, Blyth F*, Bonner C*, Borges G*, Bourne R*, Boussinesq M*, Brauer M*, Brooks P*, Bruce NG*, Brunekreef B*, Bryan-Hancock C*, Bucello C*, Buchbinder R*, Bull F*, Burnett RT*, Byers TE*, Calabria B*, Carapetis J*, Carnahan E*, Chafe Z*, Charlson F*, Chen H*, Chen JS*, Cheng ATA*, Child JC*, Cohen A*, Colson KE*, Cowie BC*, Darby S*, Darling S*, Davis A*, Degenhardt L*, Dentener* F, Des Jarlais DC*, Devries K*, Dherani M*, Ding EL*, Dorsey ER*, Driscoll T*, Edmond K*, Eltahir Ali S*, Engell RE*, Erwin PJ*, Fahimi S*, Falder G*, Farzadfar F*, Ferrari A*, Finucane MM*, Flaxman S*, Fowkes FGR*, Freedman G*, Freeman MK*, Gakidou E*, Ghosh S*, Giovannucci E*, Gmel G*, Graham K*, Grainger R*, Grant B*, Gunnell D*, Gutierrez HR*, Hall W*, Hoek HW*, Hogan A*, Hosgood III, HD*, Hoy D*, Hu H*, Hubbell BJ*, Hutchings SJ*, Ibeanusi SE*, Jacklyn GL*, Jasrasaria R*, Jonas JB*, Kan H*, Kanis JA*, Kassebaum N*, Kawakami N*, Khang YH*, Khatibzadeh S*, Khoo JP*, Kok C*, Laden F*, Lalloo R*, Lan Q*, Lathlean T*, Leasher JL*, Leigh J*, Li Y*, Lin JK*, Lipshultz SE*, London S*, Lozano R*, Lu Y*, Mak J*, Malekzadeh R*, Mallinger L*, Marcenes W*, March L*, Marks R*, Martin R*, McGale P*, McGrath J*, Mehta S*, Mensah GA*, Merriman TR*, Micha R*, Michaud C*, Mishra V*, Mohd Hanafiah K*, Mokdad AA*, Morawska L*, Mozaffarian D*, Murphy T*, Naghavi M*, Neal B*, Nelson PK*, Nolla JM*, Norman R*, Olives C*, Omer SB*, Orchard J*, Osborne R*, Ostro B*, Page A*, Pandey KD*, Parry CDH*, Passmore E*, Patra J*, Pearce N*, Pelizzari PM*, Petzold M*, Phillips MR*, Pope D*, Pope III, CA*, Powles J*, Rao M*, Razavi H*, Rehfuess EA*, Rehm JT*, Ritz B*, Rivara FP*, Roberts T*, Robinson C*, Rodriguez-Portales JA*, Romieu I*, Room R*, Rosenfeld LC*, Roy A*, Rushton L*, Salomon JA*, Sampson U*, Sanchez-Riera L*, Sanman E*, Sapkota A*, Seedat S*, Shi P*, Shield K*, Shivakoti R*, Singh GM*, Sleet DA*, Smith E*, Smith KR*, Stapelberg NJC*, Steenland K*, Stöckl H*, Stovner LJ*, Straif K*, Straney L*, Thurston GD*, Tran JH*, Van Dingenen R*, van Donkelaar A*, Veerman JL*, Vijayakumar L*, Weintraub R*, Weissman MM*, White RA*, Whiteford H*, Wiersma ST*, Wilkinson JD*, Williams HC*, Williams W*, Wilson N*, Woolf AD*, Yip P*, Zielinski JM*, Lopez AD†, Murray CJL†, Ezzati M.† A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet. 2012 Dec 13; 380: 2224–2260.

* Authors listed alphabetically

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‡ Corresponding author

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Murray CJL†‡, Vos T, Lozano R, Naghavi M, Flaxman AD, Michaud C, Ezzati M, Shibuya K, Salomon JA, Abdalla S*, Aboyans V*, Abraham J*, Ackerman I*, Aggarwal R*, Ahn SY*, Ali MA*, Alvarado M*, Anderson HR*, Anderson LM*, Andrews KG*, Atkinson C*, Baddour LM*, Bahalim AD*, Barker-Collo S*, Barrero LH*, Bartels DH*, Basáñez M-G*, Baxter A*, Bell ML*, Benjamin EJ*, Bennett D*, Bernabé E*, Bhalla K*, Bhandari B*, Bikbov B*, Abdulhak AB*, Birbeck G*, Black JA*, Blencowe H*, Blore JD*, Blyth F*, Bolliger I*, Bonaventure A*, Boufous S*, Bourne R*, Boussinesq M*, Braithwaite T*, Brayne C*, Bridgett L*, Brooker S*, Brooks P*, Brugha TS*, Bryan-Hancock C*, Bucello C*, Buchbinder R*, Buckle G*, Budke CM*, Burch M*, Burney P*, Burstein R*, Calabria B*, Campbell B*, Canter CE*, Carabin H*, Carapetis J*, Carmona L*, Cella C*, Charlson F*, Chen H*, Tai-Ann Cheng A*, Chou D*, Chugh SS*, Coffeng LE*, Colan SD*, Colquhoun S*, Colson KE*, Condon J*, Connor MD*, Cooper LT*, Corriere M*, Cortinovis M*, Courville de Vaccaro K*, Couser W*, Cowie BC*, Criqui MH*, Cross M*, Dabhadkar KC*, Dahiya M*, Dahodwala N*, Damsere-Derry J*, Danaei G*, Davis A*, De Leo D*, Degenhardt L*, Dellavalle R*, Delossantos A*, Denenberg J*, Derrett S*, Des Jarlais DC*, Dharmaratne SD*, Dherani M*, Diaz-Torne C*, Dolk H*, Dorsey ER*, Driscoll T*, Duber H*, Ebel B*, Edmond K*, Elbaz A*, Eltahir Ali S*, Erskine H*, Erwin PJ*, Espindola P*, Ewoigbokhan SE*, Farzadfar F*, Feigin V*, Felson DT*, Ferrari A*, Ferri CP*, Fèvre EM*, Finucane MM*, Flaxman S*, Flood L*, Foreman K*, Forouzanfar MH*, Fowkes FGR*, Fransen M*, Freeman MK*, Gabbe BJ*, Gabriel SE*, Gakidou E*, Ganatra HA*, Garcia B*, Gaspari F*, Gillum RF*, Gmel G*, Gonzalez-Medina D*, Gosselin R*, Grainger R*, Grant B*, Groeger J*, Guillemin F*, David Gunnell*, Gupta R*, Haagsma J*, Hagan H*, Halasa YA*, Hall W*, Haring D*, Haro*, James E Harrison JM*, Havmoeller R*, Hay RJ*, Higashi H*, Hill C*, Hoen B*, Hoffman H*, Hotez PJ*, Hoy D*, Huang JJ*, Ibeanusi SE*, Jacobsen KH*, James SL*, Jarvis D*, Jasrasaria R*, Jayaraman S*, Johns N*, Jonas JB*, Karthikeyan G*, Kassebaum N*, Kawakami N*, Keren A*, Khoo J-P*, King CH*, Knowlton LM*, Kobusingye O*, Koranteng A*, Krishnamurthi R*, Laden F*, Lalloo R*, Laslett LL*, Lathlean T*, Lin JL*, Lipnick M*, Lipshultz SE*, Liu W*, Loane M*, Ohno SL*, Lyons R*, Mabweijano J*, MacIntyre MF*, Mekzadeh R*, Mallinger L*, Manivannan S*, Marcenes W*, March L*, Margolis DJ*, Marks GB*, Marks R*, Matsumori A*, Matzopoulos R*, Mayosi BM*, McAnulty JH*, McDermott MM*, McGill N*, McGrath J*, Medina-Mora ME*, Meltzer M*, Mensah GA*, Merriman TR*, Meyer A-C*, Miglioli V*, Miller*, Ted R Miller M*, Mitchell PB*, Mock C*, Mocumbi AO*, Moffitt TE*, Mokdad AA*, Monasta L*, Montico M*, Moradi-Lakeh M*, Moran A*, Morawska L*, Mori R*, Murdoch ME*, Mwaniki MK*, Naidoo K*, Nair MN*, Naldi L*, Narayan KMV*, Nelson PK*, Nelson RG*, Nevitt MC*, Newton CR*, Nolte S*, Norman P*, Norman R*, O’Donnell M*, O’Hanlon S*, Olives C*, Omer SB*, Ortblad K*, Osborne R*, Ozgediz D*, Page A*, Pahari B*, Pandian JD*, Panozo Rivero A*, Patten SB*, Pearce N*, Perez Padilla R*, Perez-Ruiz F*, Perico N*, Pesudovs K*, Phillips D*, Phillips MR*, Pierce K*, Pion S*, Polanczyk GV*, Polinder S*, Pope CA III*, Popova S*, Porrini E*, Pourmalek F*, Prince M*, Pullan RL*, Ramaiah KD*, Ranganathan D*, Razavi H*, Regan M*, Rehm JT*, Rein DB*, Remuzzi G*, Richardson K*, Rivara FP*, Roberts T*, Robinson C*, Rodriguez De Leòn F*, Ronfani L*, Room R*, Rosenfeld LC*, Rushton L*, Sacco RL*, Saha S*, Sampson U*, Sanchez-Riera L*, Sanman E*, Schwebel DC*, Scott JG*, Segui-Gomez M*, Shahraz S*, Shepard DS*, Shin H*, Shivakoti R*, Singh D*, Singh GM*, Singh JA*, Singleton J*, Sleet DA*, Sliwa K*, Smith E*, Smith JL*, Stapelberg NJC*, Steer A*, Steiner T*, Stolk WA*, Stovner LJ*, Sudfeld C*, Syed S*, Tamburlini G*, Tavakkoli M*, Taylor HR*, Taylor JA*, Taylor WJ*, Thomas B*, Thomson WM*, Thurston GD*, Tleyjeh IM*, Tonelli M*, Towbin JA*, Truelsen T*, Tsilimbaris MK*, Ubeda C*, Undurraga EA*, van der Werf MJ*, van Os J*, Vavilala MS*, Venketasubramanian N*, Wang M*, Wang W*, Watt K*, Weatherall DJ*, Weinstock MA*, Weintraub R*, Weisskopf* MG, Weissman MM*, White RA*, Whiteford H*, Wiebe N*, Wiersma ST*, Wilkinson JD*, Williams HC*, Williams SRM*, Witt E*, Wolfe F*, Woolf*AD, Wulf S*, Yeh P-H*, Zaidi AKM*, Zheng Z-J*, Zonies D*, Alan D Lopez† . Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet. 2012 Dec 13; 380: 2197–2223.

* Authors listed alphabetically

† Joint senior authors

‡ Corresponding author

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Related Publications & Presentations

Research Articles

Olives C, Myerson R, Mokdad AH, Murray CJL, Lim SS. Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in United States counties, 2001-2009. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(4);e60308.

Read the Article

* Authors listed alphabetically

† Joint senior authors

‡ Corresponding author

Read the Article

View the Publication Summary and Data

* Authors listed alphabetically

† Joint senior authors

‡ Corresponding author

Read the Article

View the Publication Summary and Data

Salomon JA†, Vos T, Hogan DR, Gagnon M, Naghavi M, Mokdad A, Begum N, Shah R, Karyana M, Kosen S, Farje MR, Moncada G, Dutta A, Sazawal S, Dyer A, Seiler J, Aboyans V*, Baker L*, Baxter A*, Benjamin EJ*, Bhalla K*, Bin Abdulhak A*, Blyth F*, Bourne R*, Braithwaite T*, Brooks P*, Brugha TS*, Bryan-Hancock C*, Buchbinder R*, Burney P*, Calabria B*, Chen H*, Chugh SS*, Cooley R*, Criqui MH*, Cross M*, Dabhadkar KC*, Dahodwala N*, Davis A*, Degenhardt L*, Díaz-Torné C*, Dorsey ER*, Driscoll T*, Edmond K*, Elbaz A*, Ezzati M*, Feigin V*, Ferri CP*, Flaxman AD*, Flood L*, Fransen M*, Fuse K*, Gabbe BJ*, Gillum RF*, Haagsma J*, Harrison JE*, Havmoeller R*, Hay RJ*, Hel-Baqui A*, Hoek HW*, Hoffman H*, Hogeland E*, Hoy D*, Jarvis D*, Karthikeyan G*, Knowlton LM*, Lathlean T*, Leasher JL*, Lim SS*, Lipshultz SE*, Lopez AD*, Lozano R*, Lyons R*, Malekzadeh R*, Marcenes W*, March L *, Margolis DJ*, McGill N*, McGrath J*, Mensah GA*, Meyer AC*, Michaud C*, Moran A*, Mori R*, Murdoch ME*, Naldi L*, Newton CR*, Norman R*, Omer SB*, Osborne R*, Pearce N*, Perez-Ruiz F*, Perico N*, Pesudovs K*, Phillips D*, Pourmalek F*, Prince M*, Rehm JT*, Remuzzi G*, Richardson K*, Room R*, Saha S*, Sampson U*, Sanchez-Riera L*, Segui-Gomez M*, Shahraz S*, Shibuya K*, Singh D*, Sliwa K*, Smith E*, Soerjomataram I*, Steiner T*, Stolk WA*, Stovner LJ*, Sudfeld C*, Taylor HR*, Tleyjeh IM*, van der Werf MJ*, Watson WL*, Weatherall DJ*, Weintraub R*, Weisskopf MG*, Whiteford H*, Wilkinson JD*, Woolf AD*, Zheng Z-J*, Murray CJL. Common values in assessing health outcomes from disease and injury: disability weights measurement study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet. 2012 Dec 13; 380: 2129–2143.

*Authors listed alphabetically

†Corresponding author

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Usmanova G, Mokdad AH. Results of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey and implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in former Soviet Union countries. International Journal of Public Health, December 2012.

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Wetmore CM, Mokdad AH. In denial: misperceptions of weight change among adults in the United States. Preventive Medicine. 2012; 55(2):93-100.

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Takayama M, Wetmore CM, Mokdad AH. Characteristics associated with the uptake of influenza vaccination among adults in the United States. Preventive Medicine. 2012; 54:358-362.

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Lim SS, Mokdad A. Socioeconomic inequalities and infectious disease burden. The Lancet. 2012. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60151-2.

Roth GA, Fihn SD, Mokdad AH, Aekplakorn W, Hasegawa T, Lim SS. High total serum cholesterol, medication coverage and therapeutic control: an analysis of national health examination survey data from eight countries. The Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2011;89:92–101.

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Srebotnjak T, Mokdad AH, Murray CJL. A novel framework for validating and applying standardized small area measurement strategies. Population Health Metrics. 2010; 8:26.

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Saade G, Warren CW, Jones NR, Asma S, Mokdad A. Linking Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) data to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: The case for Lebanon. Prev Med. 2008.

Link M, Battaglia M, Frankel M, Osborn L, Mokdad A. Comparison of address-based sampling (ABS) versus random-digit dialing (RDD) for general population surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly. 2008; 72:6-27.

Ford ES, Mokdad AH, Link MW, Garvin WS, McGuire LC, Jiles RB, Balluz LS. Chronic disease in health emergencies: in the eye of the hurricane. Prev Chronic Dis. 2006; 3(2):A46.

Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup D, Gerberding JL. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004; 291:1238-45.

Mokdad AH, Bales VS, Greenlund KJ, Mensah GA. Public health surveillance for disease prevention: lessons from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Ethn Dis. 2003; 13(S2):S123-7.

Mokdad AH, Bowman BA, Ford ES, Vinicor F, Marks JS, Koplan JP. The continuing epidemics of obesity and diabetes in the US. JAMA. 2001; 286:1195-1200.

Mokdad AH, Serdula MK, Dietz WH, Bowman BA, Marks JS, Koplan JP. The spread of the obesity epidemic in the US. JAMA. 1999; 282:1519-22.

Okoro CA, Denny CH, McGuire LC, Balluz LS, Goins RT, Mokdad AH. Disability among older American Indians and Alaska Natives: disparities in prevalence, health-risk behaviors, obesity, and chronic conditions. Ethnicity & Disease. 2007; 17:686-92.

Ford ES, Zhao G, Li C, Pearson WS, Mokdad AH. Trends in obesity and abdominal obesity among hypertensive and nonhypertensive adults in the United States. Am J Hypertens. 2008; 21(10):1124-8.

Balluz L, Wen X, Town M, Shire J, Qualter J, Mokdad A. Ischemic heart disease and ambient air pollution of particulate matter 2.5 in 51 counties in the U.S. Public Health Reports. 2007; 122(5):626-33.

Related News & Events

News Releases Events

IHME Professor, Ali Mokdad, receives 2011 Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award (Announcement)

March 25, 2011

Ali Mokdad, PhD, Professor of Global Health at IHME, was awarded the 2011 Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award from the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).

October 8, 2012

Seattle, WA, USA

Lecture

IHME to release county life expectancy results at 14th annual health journalism conference

April 19-22, 2012

Atlanta, GA, USA

Conference

IHME’s Ali Mokdad presents at the 2nd EMPHNET/ 5th TEPHINET Scientific Regional Conference

December 6-9, 2011

Sharm Al Sheikh, Egypt

Conference

IHME’s Ali Mokdad presents at the World Diabetes Congress