Simon Iain Hay (born 15 January 1971, Rinteln, Germany) is a British epidemiologist. He is Professor for Global HealthUniversity of Washington, Department of Global Health, Professor, Global Health, Simon Hay. Retrieved on 15 Oct 2015 from University of Washington, Department of Global Health at the University of Washington and Director of Geospatial ScienceInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Director of Geospatial Science, Simon Iain Hay. Retrieved on 15 Oct 2015 from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). From 2013–2015 he served as the 52nd PresidentRoyal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Simon Hay Profile. Retrieved on 15 Oct 2015 from Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Education and career Hay attended the University of Bristol, where he studied zoology (B.Sc. 1993, summa cum laude). He matriculated at the University of Oxford in the same year and gained his doctorate in epidemiology (D.Phil., 1996) while at Green College, Oxford. Early influences during his doctoral studies were Sir Richard DollPeto, 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 from Royal Society Publishing on 18 Feb 2014. and Sir Richard Southwood. Hay has remained at the University of Oxford where he is now a member of congregation and was awarded the title of Reader (2008) and then Professor (2012). In 2012 he also became a Research Fellow in the Sciences and MathematicsProfessor Simon Hay, Research Fellow in the Sciences and Mathematics. Retrieved from St John's College on 21 Sep 2017. at St John's College, Oxford where he gained a higher doctorate (D.Sc., 2014). In 2015, he became Professor for Health at the University of Washington and Director of the Local Burden of Disease at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
The Lancet Infectious Diseases 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 from “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 (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 HotezPeter Hotez, Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, United States. Retrieved from “Baylor College of Medicine” on 21 Sep 2017. and Jeremy FarrarJeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust. Retrieved from “Wellcome Trust” on 21 Sep 2017. acknowledge Prof. Hay's geospatial vision in presenting complex data sets in an accessible way that has led to policy changes worldwide.
Kofi AnnanKofi Annan, Founding Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation. Retrieved from “Kofi Annan Foundation” on 28 Feb 2018. recognised the importance of Hay's recent work in his article,Annan, K., Data can help to end malnutrition across Africa. (2018). Nature, 555(7694): 7. Retrieved from “Data can help to end malnutrition across Africa” on 28 Feb 2018. saying, “Such fine-grained insight brings tremendous responsibility to act.” Published in Nature (journal), these high-resolution maps of child growth failure (stunted growth, wasting and underweight),Osgood-Zimmerman, A., Millear, A.I., Stubbs, R.W., Graetz, N., Shields, C., Pickering, B., Earl, L., Kinyoki, D.K., Henry, N.J., Wiens, K.E., Letourneau, I.D., Burstein, B., Reiner Jr, R.C., Mosser, J.F., Fullman, N., Deshpande, A., Casey, D.C., Jr., Liu, P., Smith, D.L., Bhatt, S., Cameron, E., Gething, P.W., Gibson, H.S., Weiss, D.J., Krause, K., Piwoz, E., Rawat, R., Herrero, M., Noor, A.M., Levine, A.J., Afshin, A., Mokdad, A.H., Lim, S.S., Murray, C.J.L., Kassebaum, N.J.† and Hay, S.I.† (2018). Mapping child growth failure in Africa between 2000 and 2015. Nature, 555(7694): 41-47. Retrieved from “Mapping child growth failure in Africa between 2000 and 2015” on 28 Feb 2018. and educational attainment,Graetz, N., Friedman, J., Osgood-Zimmerman, A., Burstein, R., Fullman, N., Biehl, M., Ray, S.E., Deshpande, A., Mosser, J.F., Earl, L., Reiner Jr, R.C., Longbottom, J., Mokdad, A.H., Lim, S.S., Murray, C.J.L., Gakidou, E.† and Hay, S.I.† (2018). Geospatial analyses of educational attainment in Africa between 2000 and 2015. Nature, 555(7694): 48-53. Retrieved from “Geospatial analyses of educational attainment in Africa between 2000 and 2015” on 28 Feb 2018. clearly illustrate local progress made during the Millennium Development Goal era, as well as, some entrenched inequalities across the continent, that need significant attention in the Sustainable Development Goal era. As well as working on these Nature (journal) papers, Hay's Local Burden of Disease (LBD) Local Burden of Disease. Retrieved from “Local Burden of Disease” on 21 May 2018. team explores health trends at a high spatial resolution to provide information to local decision-makers.Siegel, J. (2018). “Putting precision health on the map”. The Huddle, The University of Washington. Retrieved from Putting precision health on the map on 21 May 2018.
Research Hay investigates spatial and temporal aspects of infectious disease epidemiology to support the more rational implementation of disease control and intervention strategies.Professor Simon Iain Hay website. Retrieved from Professor Simon Iain Hay on 15 Oct 2015.
Honours and awards Hay was awarded the Scientific MedalZoological Society of London Scientific Medal Winners, 2008, Simon Hay. Retrieved from ZSL Scientific Medal Winners on 13 Jan 2014. of the Zoological Society of London (2008), the Back AwardRoyal Geographical Society 2012 medals and awards, Back Award, Prof. Simon Hay. Retrieved on 13 Jan 2014 from 2012 Awards and Medals of the Royal Geographical Society (2012), for research contributing to public health policy, the Bailey K. Ashford MedalAmerican Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2013 Award Winners, Bailey K. Ashford Medal, Simon I. Hay. Retrieved on 13 Jan 2014 from Bailey K. Ashford Medal of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2013) and the Chalmers MedalRoyal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Previous medal winners, Chalmers Medal Awards 2015, Simon Hay. Retrieved on 15 Oct 2015 from Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Previous medal winners of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2015), both for exceptional contributions to tropical medicine. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015.
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