Center for Global Health Faculty

Professor

Chairman; Edgar Berman Professor in International Health

Academic Degrees

• MD
• MPH

Departmental Affiliation

• Name:

  International Health

  Affiliation Type:

  Primary

Departmental Address

Contact Information

Email:

rblack+jhsph.edu

Phone:

410-955-3934

Link:

SciVal Experts Research Profile

Research and Professional Experience

The World Health Organization estimates that two-thirds of the nearly 9 million child deaths in developing countries each year are directly caused by infectious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria and that undernutrition contributes to one third of child deaths.  Robert E. Black, M.D., M.P.H. has focused his research and professional activities on reducing the number of these unnecessary deaths. He is conducting epidemiologic research on the interaction of infectious diseases and nutrition, clinical and community-based trials of new vaccines to prevent childhood infectious diseases, and trials of nutritional interventions to reduce infectious disease morbidity and mortality, as well as improve growth and development. He is also assisting with implementation of disease control and nutrition programs in developing countries and conducting evaluations of their effectiveness and mortality impact. His other interests are related to the use of evidence in policy and programs, estimation of the burden of disease, development of research capacity and strengthening of public health training.

Keywords

International health, diarrhea, evaluation, global health, infectious diseases, malaria, malnutrition, pneumonia, health policy, zinc

Selected Publications

Santosham M, Chandran A, Fitzwater S, Fischer Walker C, Baqui AH, Black R.  Progress and barriers for the control of diarrhoel disease.  Lancet 376:63-7, July 2010.

Victora CG, Black RE, Boerma T, Bryce J.  Measuring impact in the MDG era and beyond: A new approach to large-scale effectiveness evaluations.  Lancet doi:10.1016/S0140-6736 (10) 60810-0. July 9, 2010.

Black RE, Cousens S, Johnson HL, Lawn JE, Rudan I, Bassani DG, Jha P, Campbell H, Fischer Walker C, Cibulskis R, Eisele T, Liu L, Mathers C.  Global, regional and national causes of child mortalty, Lancet 375:1969-87, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60549-1, 2010.

Roth DE, Richard S, Black RE.  Zinc Supplementation for the prevention of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI) in chidren in developing countries: meta-analysis and meta-regression of randomized trials.  Int J Epidemiol 39:795-808, doi:10.1093/ije/dyp39, 2010.

Bryce J, Gilroy K, Jones G, Hazel E, Black RE, Victora CG. The accelerated child survival and development programme in west Africa: a retrospective assessment. Lancet 375:572-582, 2010, DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)62060-2.

Baqui AH, Ahmed S, Arifeen SE, Darmstadt GL, Rosecrans A, Mannan I, Rahman M, Begum N, Mahmud A, Seraji HR, Williams EK, Winch P, Santosham M, Black R, for the Projahnmo Study Group. Effect of timing of first postnatal care home visit on neonatal mortality in Bangladesh: An observational cohort study. Brit Med J 339; doi:10.1136/bmj.b2826, 2009. 

Koyanagi A, Humphrey JH, Moulton LH, Ntozini R, Mutasa K, Iliff P, Black RE, and the ZVITAMBO Study Group. Effect of early exclusive breastfeeding on morbidity among infants born to HIV-negative mothers in Zimbabwe. Am J Clin Nutr 89:1-8, 2009.

Kumar V, Mohanty S, Kumar A, Misra RP, Santosham M, Baqui, AH, Awasthi S, Singh P, Singh V, Ahuja RC, Singh JV, Malik GK, Ahmed S, Black RE, Bhandari M, Darmstadt GL, for the Saksham Study Group.  Effect of community-based behavior change management on neonatal mortality in Shivgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India: a cluster-randomised, controlled trial. Lancet 372:1151-62, 2008.

Bhutta ZA, Samana A, Cousens S, Ali TM, Haider BA, Rizvi A, Okong P, Bhutta SZ, Black RE.  Interventions to address maternal, newborn and child survival: What difference can integrated primary health care strategies make? Lancet 372:972-89, 2008.

Black RE, Allen LH, Bhutta ZA, Caulfield LE, de Onis M, Ezzati M, Mathers C, Rivera J, for the Maternal and Child Undernutrition Study Group. Maternal and child undernutrition: Global and regional exposures and health consequences. Lancet 371: 243-60, 2008.

Bhutta ZA, Ahmed T, Black RE, Cousens S, Dewey K, Giugliani E, Haider BA, Kirkwood B, Morris SS, Sachdev HPS, Shekar M, for the Maternal and Child Undernutrition Study Group. Maternal and child undernutrition:  What works?  Interventions to affect maternal and child undernutrition and survival globally. Lancet 371: 417-40, 2008. 

Baqui AH, Arifeen SE, Darmstadt GL, Ahmed S, Willliams EK, Seraji HR, Mannan I, Rahman SM, Shah R, Saha SK, Syed U, Winch PJ, Lefevre A, Santosham M, Black RE for the Projahnmo Study Group. Effect of community-based newborn-care intervention package implemented through two service-delivery strategies in Sylhet district, Bangladesh: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet 371:1936-44; June 7, 2008.

Roth DE, Caulfield LE, Black RE, Nutrition and childhood pneumonia: Global burden and opportunities for prevention. Bull WHO 86:356-364, 2008.

Fischer-Walker CL, Ezzati M, Black RE. Zinc deficiency: The global burden of disease. Eur J Clin Nutr 86:356-364, 2008.

Bhandari N, Mazumder S, Taneja S, Dube B., Agarwal RC, Mahalanabis D, Fontaine O, Black RE, Bhan MK, The Effectiveness of zinc supplementation plus ORS compared to ORS alone as a treatment for acute diarrhea in a primary health care setting: A cluster-randomized trial. Pediatrics 121;e1279-e1285, 2008; doi:10.1542/peds.2007-1939.

Bishai D, Mirchandani G, Pariyo G, Burnham G, Black RE. The cost of quality improvements due to integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) in Uganda. Health Economics DOI: 10. 1002/hec. 1231; 26 January 2007.

Baqui AH, El Arifeen S, Saha SK, Persson LA, Zaman K, Gessner BD, Moulton LH, Black RE, Santosham M. Effectiveness of Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine on prevention of pneumonia and meningitis in Bangladeshi children: A case-control study. Pediatr Inf Dis 26:565-571, 2007.

Sazawal S, Black RE, Ramsan M, Chwaya HM, Dutta A, Dhingra U, Stoltzfus RJ, Othman MK, Kabole FM. Effects of zinc supplementation on mortality in children aged 1-48 months: A community-based randomized placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 369:927-934, 2007.

Iannotti LL, Tielsch JM, Black MM, Black RE. Iron supplementation in early childhood: health benefits and risks. Am J Clin Nutr 84:1261-1276, 2006.

Sazawal S, Dingra U, Hiremath G, Kumar J, Dhingra P, Sakar A, Menon VGP, Black RE. Effects of fortified milk on morbidity in young children in north India: Community based, randomized, double masked placebo controlled trial.BMJ. doi:10.1136/bmj.39035.482396.55, 2006.

Sazawal S, Hiremath G, Dhingra U, Malik P, Deb S, Black RE. Efficacy of probiotics in prevention of acute diarrhoea: A meta-analysis of masked, randomised, placebo-controlled trials. Lancet Inf Dis 6:374-382, 2006.

Merson MH, Black RE, Mills AJ. (eds.) International Public Health: Diseases, Programs, Systems and Policies. Jones and Bartlett Publishers 2006, 730 p.

Bobat R, Coovadia H, Stephen C, Naidoo KL, McKerrow N, Black RE, Moss, WJ. Safety and efficacy of zinc supplementation for children with HIV-1 infection in South Africa: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 366:18862-1867. 2005.

Darmstadt GL, Saha SK, Ahmed ASMNU, Chowdhury MAKA, Law PA, Ahmed S, Alam MA, Black RE, Santosham M. Effect of tropical therapy with skin barrier-enhancing emollients on nosocomial infections in preterm infants in Bangladesh: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Lancet 365:1039-1045, 2005.

Penny ME, Creed-Kanashiro HM, Robert RC, Narro R, Caulfield LE, Black RE. Effectiveness of an educational intervention delivered through the health services to improve your child nutrition: A cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet 365:1863-1872, 2005.

Bryce J, Black RE, Walker N, Bhutta ZA, Lawn JE, Steketee RW. Can the world afford to save the lives of 6 million children each year? Lancet 365:2193-2200, 2005.

Bryce J, Victora CG, Habicht J-P, Vaughan P, Black RE. The multi-country evaluation of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness strategy: Lessons for the Evaluation of Public Health Interventions. Am J Pub Health 94:406-415, 2004.

Brooks WA, Yunus Md, Santosham M, Wahed MA, Nahar K, Yeasmin SY, Black RE. Efficacy of zinc in the treatment of pneumonia in hospitalized infants less than 2 years of age. Lancet 363:1683-1688, 2004.

Sazawal S, Black RE. Effect of pneumonia case management on mortality in neonates, infants, and preschool children: a meta-analysis of community-based trials. Lancet Inf Dis 3:547-556, 2003.

Black RE, Morris SS, Bryce J. Where and why are 10 million children dying every year? Lancet 361:2226-2234, 2003.

Jones G, Steketee RW, Black RE, Bhutta AZ, Morris S and the Bellagio Child Survival Study Group. How many child deaths can we prevent this year? Lancet 362:65-71, 2003.