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National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health
ANU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE & HEALTH SCIENCES
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Professor Tony McMichael

MB BS (Univ Adelaide), PhD (Monash Univ), FAFPHM, FTSE

Current Position: Professor

Contact Details: (Building 62, ANU map)
National Centre for Epidemiology and
Population Health
The Australian National University
Canberra, ACT, 0200 Australia

T: +61 2 6125 4578
F: +61 2 6125 0740
E: Tony.McMichael@anu.edu.au

Tony McMichael, medical graduate and epidemiologist, was previously Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1994-2001). Among his active research interests (shown below), his primary focus now is on global climate change and human health, encompassing studies at local, national and international levels. During 2001-2007 Tony was Director of NCEPH and led the development of programs of research on the health impacts of large-scale environmental and climatic changes, and the environmental influences on autoimmune diseases. His pioneering research and writing on the health risks of climate change was developed in conjunction with his central role in the assessment of health risks for the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1993-2007). He has been an advisor and consultant on environmental health issues to WHO, the UN Environment Program, the World Bank and other international bodies. His environmental research, along with a longstanding interest in social and cultural influences on patterns of health and disease, underpins his further interest in understanding the ecology of the emergence and spread of infectious diseases in this 'renaissant' microbial era. During 2008-2009 he is President of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology.

Research Interests

  • Climate change and human health: studies of current, emerging and estimated future risks, and adaptive strategies to lessen risks   (See details via link at left: NCEPH/Research Areas)
    (Note, Feb/Mar 2008: Several 3-year term academic appointments are being advertised in this topic area. See ANU position NCEPH 4616, closing date March 7. Possibility of extension of appointment to Sept 30, 2012.)

  • Environmental and social influences on the ecology of infectious disease emergence and occurrence

  • Urban environment, health and sustainability: social and physical influences on patterns of health, with particular reference to food systems, transport systems and energy use

  • Diet, nutrition, energy balance and health: population and individual aspects

  • Environmental epidemiological studies of the causation of autoimmune diseases

Selected Recent Publications

McMichael AJ, Powles J, Butler CD, Uauy R. Food, livestock production, energy, climate change and health. Lancet 2007; 370:1253-1263. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607612562/fulltext

McMichael AJ, Woodruff R , Hales S. Climate change and human health: Present and future risks. Lancet 2006; 367: 859-69. (DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68079-3), http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673606680793/fulltext

McMichael AJ. Population health as the 'bottom line' of sustainability: a contemporary challenge for public health researchers. European Journal of Public Health 2006,16(6):579-581 (DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckl102, 19 July 2006) http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/16/6/579

McMichael AJ, Butler CD. Emerging Health Issues: The widening challenge for population health promotion. Health Promotion International 2006; 21 (Supp 1): 15-24.

McMichael AJ. Integrating nutrition and ecology: Balancing the health of humans and biosphere. Public Health Nutrition, 2005; 8: 706-715.

Weiss R, McMichael AJ. Social and environmental risk factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Nature Medicine, 2004; 10 : S70-76.

McMichael AJ, McKee M, Shkolnikov V, Valkonen T. Mortality trends and setbacks: global convergence or divergence? The Lancet, 2004; 363 : 1155-59.

McMichael AJ, Butler CD , Folke C. New visions for addressing sustainability. Science, 2003; 302: 1919-20.

McMichael AJ , Campbell-Lendrum D, Ebi K, Githeko A, Scheraga J, Woodward A (eds). Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses . Geneva : WHO, 2003, 322pp.

Ponsonby A-L, McMichael AJ , van der Mei I. Ultraviolet radiation and autoimmune disease: insights from epidemiological research. Toxicology 2002; 181-182: 71-78.

Patz JA, Hulme M, McMichael AJ , et al. Regional warming and malaria resurgence. Nature, 2002; 420: 627-628.

McMichael AJ. Population, environment, disease, and survival: past patterns, uncertain futures. Lancet 2002; 359: 1145-8.

McMichael Tony. Human Frontiers, Environments and Disease: Past Patterns, Uncertain Futures. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2001, 413pp.