Brian MacMahon (1923–2007): founder of modern epidemiology

Brian MacMahon was born in Sheffield, UK in 1923. He served as chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health for more than 30 years. He was admired as a noble and generous man and respected for his shining intellect, scientific integrity, and broad culture. He set the pace for modern epidemiology and led the way for a whole school of epidemiologists who are now spread around the nation and the world. He made major scientific contributions, received several distinguished prizes and awards, and continued to publish insightful papers until the very end. Brian MacMahon was the first editor-in-chief of Cancer Causes and Control.