COLIN L. SOSKOLNE

Dr. Soskolne is Professor of Epidemiology and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.   He established the Department's Epidemiology Program and built its Graduate Training activities at the masters and doctoral levels. He has dedicated his career to professional service in moving the ethics agenda forward, and in his work with the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. His work in capacity building extends from Canada to South Africa and Azerbaijan. His major epidemiological research contributions have been in the occupational cancer, AIDS and the global change literatures.

With his initial training in applied mathematics and computer science in South Africa, Dr. Soskolne's first job, in 1971,was as statistician with the South African Human Sciences Research Council. He then directed the Transvaal Branch of the Medical Research Council's Institute for Statistical Research associated with the National Research Institute for Occupational Diseases, Johannesburg. He left South Africa for a January 1978 start in a PhD program. In 1982, he joined the Ontario Cancer Foundation as Director of its Epidemiology Research Unit located in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics at the University of Toronto. There he was heavily engaged in AIDS research, in both professional and public education, and in advocacy about AIDS. He was awarded the SER 1983 Student Prize for his doctoral work. His major research contribution formed the basis in 1991 for the International Agency for Research on Cancer designating "occupational exposures to strong-inorganic-acid mists containing sulfuric acid" as a definitive human carcinogen. From 1984 to 1996, he spearheaded efforts to bring the question of professional ethics into focus for epidemiologists world wide.

Dr. Soskolne served on the ACE Ethics and Standards of Practice Committee for its first 10 years of operation through which he contributed significantly to the development and recent publication of the ACE ethics guidelines. His membership in ACE goes back to its founding days, and he has been a Fellow since 1988. His most recent sabbatical was with the WHO's European Centre for Environment and Health, Rome. There, he produced a discussion document concerned with the linkages between global ecological integrity and sustainable development. Having organized several national and international conferences, Dr. Soskolne has won awards for his professional service. His name is associated with over 200 published works.