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Majid Ezzati

Majid Ezzati, MEng, PhD, is Associate Professor of Global Health and Population and Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and Affiliate Associate Professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

Dr. Ezzati's research focuses on two closely linked areas: The first area is analysis and modeling of the effects of risk factor exposures and interventions on population health and health disparities, with emphasis on environmental risks, smoking, and nutritional and metabolic risk factors. The second area involves field research projects on air pollution and health in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The research includes characterizing and measuring exposure to individual pollutants or to pollutant mixtures in both rural and urban areas, quantifying the role of sources such as biomass use and transportation on air pollution levels and exposure, measuring and quantifying the health impacts of alternative energy technologies, and designing new technological interventions and intervention delivery programs.

Dr. Ezzati joined Harvard as an Assistant Professor in Population and International Health in 2003 after working as Lead Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Comparative Risk Assessment Project, which was part of the World Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life.

Dr. Ezzati has published more than 80 articles and four books and is currently a member of a number of expert and advisory groups in global health and global environmental health. He was awarded the WHO Global Health Leadership Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 2000.

Dr. Ezzati holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in engineering from McMaster and McGill universities and a PhD in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy from Princeton University.

Selected Publications:

1. Ezzati M, Kammen DM. (2001) Indoor air pollution from biomass combustion as a risk factor for acute respiratory infections in Kenya: an exposure-response study. The Lancet. 2001; 358(9282):619-24. Erratum 358(9287).
2. Ezzati M, Lopez AD, Rodgers A, Vander Hoorn S, Murray CJL, the Comparative Risk Assessment Collaborating Group. Selected major risk factors and global and regional burden of disease. The Lancet. 2002; 360(9343):1347-60.
3. Ezzati M, Vander Hoorn S, Rodgers A, Lopez AD, Mathers CD, Murray CJL, the Comparative Risk Assessment Collaborating Group. Estimates of global and regional potential health gains from reducing multiple major risk factors. The Lancet. 2003; 362(9380):271-80. Erratum 365(9453).
4. Bailis R, Ezzati M, Kammen DM.  Mortality and greenhouse gas impacts of biomass and petroleum energy futures in Africa. Science. 2005; 308(5718):98-103.
5. Danaei G, Lawes CMM, Vander Hoorn S, Murray CJL, Ezzati M. Global and regional ischaemic heart disease and stroke mortality attributable to higher-than-optimal blood glucose. The Lancet. 2006; 368(9548):1651-59.
6. Ezzati M, Friedman AB, Kulkarni SC, Murray CJL. The reversal of fortunes: trends in mortality and mortality disparities in the US counties. PLoS Medicine. 2008; 5(4):e66.
7. Stevens G, Dias RH, Thomas KJA, Rivera JA, Carvalho N, Barquera S, Hill K, Ezzati M. Characterizing the epidemiological transition in Mexico: national and subnational analysis of the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. PLoS Medicine. 2008; 5(6):e125.
8. Stevens G, Dias RH, Ezzati M. The effects of three environmental risk factors on mortality disparities across Mexican communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 2008; 105(44):16860-5.
9. Lin H, Murray MM, Cohen T, Colijn C, Ezzati M. The effects of smoking and solid fuel use on COPD, lung cancer, and tuberculosis: a time-based, multiple-risk-factor modelling study. The Lancet. 2008; 372(9648):1473-83.
10. Pope CA 3rd, Ezzati M, Dockery DW. Fine particulate air pollution and life expectancy in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine. 2009; 360(4):376-86.
11. Danaei G, Ding, E, Mozaffarian D, Taylor B, Rehm J, Murray CJL, Ezzati M. Mortality effects of lifestyle, dietary, and metabolic risk factors in the United States: comparative risk assessment. PLoS Medicine. 2009; 6(4):e1000058.
12. Ezzati M, Lopez AD, Rodgers A, Murray CJL, eds. Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: The Global and Regional Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risk Factors (Volumes 1 and 2). Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004.

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