Axelrod Prize in Public Health

The Axelrod Prize in Public Health honors an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of public health at the intersection of academia and government service.

Candidates were nominated in 2019 by individuals in public health and related fields from across the U.S. They were considered for the alignment of their public health contributions with David Axelrod’s vision for the intersection of academia and government health departments, the impact of these contributions and the role these contributions have played in reducing health disparities.

Our School is pleased to announce that the Axelrod Prize Committee has selected Thomas A. Burke of Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health as the 2020 Axelrod Prize in Public Health recipient.

Thomas A. Burke is Professor and Chair of Health Risk and Society at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and the director of the Johns Hopkins Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute. He was the principal investigator of the Pew Environmental Health Commission that developed the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network.

Serving as the Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant Administrator for Research and Development of the Enivronmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the last two years of the Obama Administration, Burke strategically directed research and led offices supplying the scientific support for decisionmaking. He also led a major national investigation of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources and the EPA scientific investigation and response to the contamination of drinking water in Flint, Michigan.

Before joining Johns Hopkins, Burke was Deputy Commissioner of Health for New Jersey and Director of Science and Research for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. There, he directed initiatives that influenced the development of state legislation and national environmental health programs, such as Superfund, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Toxics Release Inventory.

“Perhaps one of Tom’s greatest contributions to public health comes from his tireless service on numerous committees that bridge from the findings of scientific research to policies and regulations to control risk,” says Jonathan Samet, Dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. “He has served on and chaired multiple committees for the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, CDC, and the EPA.”

Burke has taught thousands of students and has mentored doctoral students who are now leaders at major universities worldwide. They play key roles in academia and throughout the nation’s local, state and federal agencies.

“I have learned so much from all of them,” says Burke. “They have been my best teachers.”