International Journal of Epidemiology | "Roger Detels, 14 October 1936 to 25 July 2026"

The International Journal of Epidemiology published a feature obituary of the late Dr. Roger Detels co-written by UCLA Fielding's Dr. Onyebuchi Arah, Dr. Roberta Malmgren, Dr. Ralph Frerichs, and Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang.

"We are deeply saddened by the death of Roger Detels, UCLA Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology, who passed away on 25 July 2026. We have lost one of the most influential figures in global public health. He was a towering epidemiologist who researched, taught, and practiced consequential public health everywhere, be it in the community, lab, clinic, classroom, boardroom, or policy arena, while prioritizing training, mentoring, and capacity building. Roger was a colleague, friend, and mentor to countless faculty, students, staff, and researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and around the world. It is hard to imagine the field of public health without him. Still, his indelible impact on the careers and lives of so many scholars in the USA and abroad will continue to affect generations to come.

Roger started his career with a BA degree from Harvard University and an MD degree from New York University. He completed his medical residency at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he also earned an MS in preventive medicine. From 1966 to 1969, he was a medical officer in a US Naval Medical Research Unit in Taiwan. He later worked at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health. In 1970, he joined the Division of Epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health as an associate professor. From 1971 to 1980, he was acting head and then head of the division. Later, after Epidemiology became a department, he served two terms as Chair, from 2001 to 2005 and from 2010 to 2012. He was Dean of the School of Public Health from 1980 to 1985."

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