Rod Jackson | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Rod_Jackson_2017.jpg) Jackson in 2017 | |
| Born | Rodney Thornton Jackson 1954 (age 69–70) A farm near Dargaville, New Zealand |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Alma mater | University of Auckland |
| Known for | The epidemiology of chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Epidemiology |
| Institutions | University of Auckland |
| Thesis | The Auckland heart study: a case-control study of coronary heart disease (1989) |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Beaglehole |
| Doctoral students | Josephine Herman Shanthi Ameratunga |
| Website | University of Auckland profile |
Rodney Thornton Jackson FRSNZ (born 1954)[1] is a New Zealand medically trained epidemiologist who has had lead roles in publicly funded research focussing on systems to effectively identify risk factors in the epidemiology of chronic diseases, in particular cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This involved linking large cohort studies to regional and national electronic health databases and enabling the generation of new risk-prevention equations using web-based tools, such as the PREDICT model, to implement, monitor and improve risk assessment and management guidelines. Research on asthma in which Jackson participated influenced decisions made by the New Zealand Ministry of Health, and he has contributed to public debate on dietary risk factors for heart attacks and strokes. Following an evidence-based approach to identification of disparities in medical outcomes for different groups within the New Zealand population, Jackson took a position on racism in the medical sector. In 2020, he became a frequent commentator in the media on the approach of the New Zealand government to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 1999, Jackson has been professor of epidemiology at the University of Auckland.