Simon Iain Hay, (born 15 January 1971,

Rinteln Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river above the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In rela ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) is a British

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and risk factor, determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decision ...

. He is Professor for Global Health at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and Director of Geospatial Science at the

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is a research institute working in the area of global health statistics and impact evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. The Institute is headed by Christopher J.L. Murray ...

(IHME). From 2013-2015 he served as the 52nd President of the

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, more commonly known by its acronym RSTMH, was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President (1907–1909), was recognised as "th ...

Education and career

Hay attended the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, where he studied

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

(B.Sc. 1993,

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

). He

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

at the University of Oxford in the same year and gained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in epidemiology (

D.Phil. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

, 1996) while at

Green College, Oxford Green Templeton College (GTC) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the previous Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and ...

. Early influences during his doctoral studies were Sir

Richard Doll Sir William Richard Shaboe Doll (28 October 1912 – 24 July 2005) was a British physician who became an epidemiologist in the mid-20th century and made important contributions to that discipline. He was a pioneer in research linking smoking ...

Peto, R.; Beral, V. (2010). "Sir Richard Doll CH OBE. 28 October 1912 -- 24 July 2005". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 56: 63. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2010.0019. Retrieved fro
Society Publishing''
on 18 Feb 2014. and Sir

Richard Southwood Sir Thomas Richard Edmund Southwood GOM DL FRS (20 June 1931 – 26 October 2005) was a British biologist, Professor of Zoology and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. A specialist on entomology, he developed the field of insect eco ...

. Hay has remained at the University of Oxford where he is now a member of

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: *Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...

and was awarded the title of

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

(2008) and then

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

(2012). In 2012 he also became a Research Fellow in the Sciences and Mathematics at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

where he gained a

higher doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

(

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

, 2014). In 2015, he became Professor for Health at the

and Director of the Local Burden of Disease at the

(IHME). ''

The Lancet Infectious Diseases ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, r ...

'' published a biographical sketch, Simon Hay: mapping the world's ills Kirby, T. (2017). "Simon Hay: mapping the world's ills". The Lancet Infectious Diseases 17(10): 1031. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30532-7. Retrieved fro
“The Lancet Infectious Diseases”
on 21 Sep 2017. summarising Hay's education, early career and influences. His work on mapping malaria and other vector-borne diseases, and more recently adding a geospatial dimension to the

Global Burden of Disease Study The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) is a comprehensive regional and global research program of disease burden that assesses mortality and disability from major diseases, injuries, and risk factors. GBD is a collaboration of over 3600 researche ...

(GBD), is described. Hay's future goal is to create high spatial resolution maps for all the diseases, risks, and injuries covered by the GBD, which could be possible in the next 10 years with advances in technology. Influential colleagues in the field,

Peter Hotez Peter Jay Hotez (born May 5, 1958) is an American scientist, pediatrician, and advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical disease control. He serves as founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, P ...

and

Jeremy Farrar Sir Jeremy James Farrar (born 1 September 1961) is a British medical researcher who has served as director of the Wellcome Trust since 2013 and will serve as chief scientist at the World Health Organization in 2023. He was previously a professo ...

acknowledge Prof. Hay's geospatial vision in presenting complex data sets in an accessible way that has led to policy changes worldwide.

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

recognised the importance of Hay's recent work in his article, saying, “Such fine-grained insight brings tremendous responsibility to act.” Published in ''

Nature (journal) ''Nature'' is a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England. As a multidisciplinary publication, ''Nature'' features peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and technology. ...

'', these high-resolution maps of child growth failure (

stunted growth Stunted growth is a reduced growth rate in human development. It is a primary manifestation of malnutrition (or more precisely undernutrition) and recurrent infections, such as diarrhea and helminthiasis, in early childhood and even before birth, ...

wasting In medicine, wasting, also known as wasting syndrome, refers to the process by which a debilitating disease causes muscle and fat tissue to "waste" away. Wasting is sometimes referred to as "acute malnutrition" because it is believed that episo ...

and

underweight An underweight person is a person whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. A person who is underweight is malnourished. Assessment The body mass index, a ratio of a person's weight to their height, has traditionally been used t ...

), and educational attainment, clearly illustrate local progress made during the

Millennium Development Goal The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...

era, as well as, some entrenched inequalities across the continent, that need significant attention in the

Sustainable Development Goal The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

era. As well as working on these ''

'' papers, Hay's Local Burden of Disease (LBD) team explores health trends at a high spatial resolution to provide information to local decision-makers.

Research

Hay investigates spatial and temporal aspects of infectious disease epidemiology to support the more rational implementation of disease control and intervention strategies.

Honours and awards

Hay was awarded the Scientific Medal of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

(2008), the

Back Award The Back Award, also referred to as the Back Grant, was first given by the Royal Geographical Society in 1882 for "applied or scientific geographical studies which make an outstanding contribution to the development of national or international pub ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(2012), for research contributing to public health policy, the Bailey K. Ashford Medal of the

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) is an Arlington, Virginia-based non-profit organization of scientists, clinicians, students and program professionals whose longstanding mission is to promote global health through the ...

(2013) and the

Chalmers Medal The Chalmers Medal is the major mid-career award of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The Chalmers Medal was initially awarded biennially, then annually, "in recognition of research of outstanding merit contributing to our knowle ...

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Previous medal winners, Chalmers Medal Awards 2015, Simon Hay. Retrieved on 15 Oct 2015 fro
''Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Previous medal winners''
/ref> of the

(2015), both for exceptional contributions to tropical medicine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Simon I. Living people British zoologists British epidemiologists Alumni of Green College, Oxford Academics of the University of Oxford University of Washington faculty Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) 1971 births Presidents of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene