Abraham M. Lilienfeld Collection

Biography

Abraham M. Lilienfeld was born in New York City. He received his A.B. in 1941 from the Johns Hopkins University, his M.D. in 1944 from the University of Maryland, and his M.P.H. in 1949 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. After an internship and residency at West Baltimore General Hospital from 1944 to 1946, Lilienfeld served in the U.S. Army for a year. From 1947-1948, he worked in the Field Studies Section, Tuberculosis Control Division of the US Public Health Service. From 1948 to 1950, he was a Epidemiologist in Training and then Associate Public Health Physician with the New York State Department of Health. In 1950, he joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health as a lecturer while serving as a District Health Officer in the Southern Health District for the Baltimore City Health Department. He earned the rank of assistant professor of epidemiology in 1952. In 1954, he left Johns Hopkins to serve as associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine. Lilienfeld returned to the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1958 as professor and director of the division of chronic diseases within the department of public health administration. In 1961, he became chairman of the new department of chronic diseases. In 1970, the department of chronic diseases merged with the department of epidemiology, with Lilienfeld as the new chair. He resigned the chairmanship in 1975 but continued to serve the school and was active as a teacher and scientist until his death in 1984. From 1980-1984, He directed the MPH Program. He served as acting chairman of the department of mental hygiene from 1981-1982 and acting chairman of the department of behavioral sciences from 1983-1984. Lilienfeld was recognized internationally as an expert in cancer research and as a pioneer in developing epidemiological methods for the study of chronic diseases. The library at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health is named in his honor.

Scope and Content

The Abraham M. Lilienfeld Collection spans his entire career. Series include professional correspondence, epidemiology studies, grant proposals, awards, administrative records, and journal articles. The bulk of the later correspondence concerns Lilienfeld’s research. Materials from epidemiology studies include proposals, survey forms, notes, correspondence, and reports. Manuscripts of Lilienfeld’s writings include Foundations of Epidemiology, Preventive Medicine, and Reviews of Cancer Epidemiology. Materials concerning the AIDS Institute of New York, the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health courses, and the M.P.H. program advising committee are also included.

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