Albert Oberman, MD, MPH

Born: 1934

Albert Oberman received his MD degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his MPH at Michigan, having served in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) with the Pensacola Naval Aviators Study. Much of his career has been as professor and director of the Division of Preventive Medicine at the University of the Alabama School of Public Health. There he works still, in retirement, and was principal investigator for units of many of the major epidemiological studies and trials in the United States: Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT), Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up (HDFP) and other hypertension trials, the National Exercise and Heart Disease Project, Coronary Artery Surgery Study (CASS), the Women’s Health Initiative, Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA), Lipid research Centers (LRC), and TOPE. His researches covered many areas of CVD epidemiology and with a strong focus on blood pressure, blood lipids, and physical activity.

He served on the Advisory Council of National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) from 1993-1996, and chaired the NHLBI Task Force on Research in Epidemiology and Prevention at a crucial time in falling support of the field. He has held many roles in the American Heart Association and its Council on Epidemiology and Prevention.

Al Oberman is highly regarded for his unassuming yet forceful leadership, his innovation in preventive researches, and his reliability in teaching, mentoring, and administration. He largely set the mold for the expansion into microbiology and genetics at Alabama where the union with epidemiology is particularly natural and effective. (HB)