Award will honor innovative use of research to drive impact; winner will receive US$100,000
SEATTLE—The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the
University of Washington has launched the Roux Prize, a new US$100,000
award to recognize individuals or groups that have used Global Burden of
Disease (GBD) data to take action that makes people healthier.
The prize is named for David and Barbara Roux.
David Roux
is a founding board member of IHME and, over the past decade, has
encouraged the Institute not to let GBD data sit on a shelf and go
unused but to look for ways to make it accessible and useful.
The Roux Prize is intended for anyone who has applied
Global Burden of Disease research in innovative ways to improve population health since the first GBD publication in 1993.
Nominees may come from anywhere in the world and could include, but
are not limited to, staff in government agencies, researchers at
academic institutions, volunteers in charitable organizations, or health
providers working in the community. Nominations are due March 31, 2014,
and the winner will be announced at an event in September 2014.
The winner will receive US$100,000, making the Roux Prize the largest
award focused on individuals contributing to population health.
“Dave Roux’s commitment to IHME has long inspired us to look for
ways to bring GBD to the wider public beyond our core audiences of
policymakers, researchers, and others working in population health,”
said IHME Director
Dr. Christopher Murray. “The Roux Prize can transform the way that data are used to drive action that will have lasting health impact.”
GBD is a systematic, scientific effort to quantify the comparative
magnitude of health loss due to diseases, injuries, and risk factors. In
1993, the original GBD study was funded by the World Bank and featured
in its landmark
World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health.
Co-authored by Dr. Murray, this study included estimates for 107
diseases and 483 non-fatal health consequences in eight regions and five
age groups.
GBD 2010, a collaborative effort with almost 500 co-authors led by IHME and published in
The Lancet
in 2012, provides results for 291 diseases and injuries, 67 risk
factors, and 1,160 non-fatal health consequences for 21 global regions,
20 age groups and both sexes, and 187 countries. The results are
available in a series of online data visualization tools at
http://ihmeuw.org/GBDcountryviz. In 2014, IHME will begin publishing annual updates of the GBD estimates.
Data on disease burden have led to changes on a variety of health
issues, ranging from global tobacco control to better diagnosis and
treatment of children with diabetes in Ghana to laws in Vietnam
encouraging helmet use among riders of motorcycles and bicycles to
reduce road injury deaths.
“IHME has led the way in promoting the idea that dramatic change is
possible through better understanding of health challenges based on
rigorous data,” said Michael Young, President of the University of
Washington. “The Roux Prize will honor current and up-and-coming health
leaders who emulate this approach.”
Details on the nomination process and criteria are available on the IHME website at
www.rouxprize.org.
Nominations and questions about the prize can be sent to
info@rouxprize.org, or mailed to:
Roux Prize
c/o Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
2301 Fifth Ave., Suite 600
Seattle, WA 98121
USA
Please direct calls about the prize to +1-206-897-6088.
Media contact:
Rhonda Stewart
+1-206-897-2863
Infographic by Thomas Porostocky | Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
