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Ali Mokdad

Ali Mokdad, PhD, is Professor of Global Health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and leads the survey and surveillance activities at the Institute.

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.

Selected Publications:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup D, Gerberding JL. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004; 291:1238-45.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.

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