Godfrey Oakley – Society for Epidemiologic Research (original) (raw)

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Dr. Oakley is Director Center for Spina Bifida Prevention and Research Professor of Epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. Dr. Oakley was formerly Director, Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While at CDC, he and his team provided the scientific and policy leadership critical to persuading the Food and Drug Administration to mandate folic acid fortification of “enriched” flour to prevent spina bifida, a disabling birth defect.

Acknowledged as a worldwide expert, Dr. Oakley actively monitors scientific and policy issues concerning folic acid worldwide, and provides information to those considering fortification. He is board certified in pediatrics, genetics, and preventive medicine and is a member of the Institute of Medicine. He was the ABC “World News Tonight” Person of the Week, March 1996.He has authored and co-authored numerous scientific papers and served as president of the American Teratology Society and Chairman of the International Clearinghouse of Birth Defects Monitoring Systems. Among his awards have been the Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of Washington School of Public Health; three awards from the American Public Health Association; and the Bowman Gray Medical Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.

Dr. Oakley graduated from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, trained in pediatrics at the Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, and earned a Master of Science degree in Preventive Medicine and a Fellowship in Teratology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.