Norman Breslow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Norman E. Breslow
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| Born | February 21, 1941 |
| Died | December 9, 2015 (aged 74) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Awards | Snedecor Award (1995) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Statistics |
| Institutions | University of Washington |
| Doctoral advisor | Bradley Efron |
| Doctoral students | Nilanjan Chatterjee, Kung-Yee Liang, Xihong Lin, Bruce G. Lindsay |
Norman Edward Breslow (born February 21, 1941 – died December 9, 2015) was an American statistician. He was also a medical researcher. He worked at the University of Washington. There, he was a Professor of Biostatistics. Biostatistics uses statistics to understand health and medicine. He wrote many important research papers. These papers were published between 1967 and 2015.
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What Did Norman Breslow Do?
Norman Breslow made big contributions to medical research. He worked with another statistician, Nicholas Day. Together, they helped make a research method popular. This method is called "case-control matched sample studies."
Understanding Case-Control Studies
Imagine scientists want to find out what causes a disease. They can compare two groups of people. One group has the disease (the "cases"). The other group does not (the "controls"). These groups are "matched" in some ways. This means they are similar in age, gender, or other factors. This helps researchers see if a specific factor is linked to the disease.
Why Are These Studies Important?
Case-control studies are useful for several reasons. They can be done quickly. They are also less expensive than some other studies. They help scientists test ideas about diseases. For example, they can suggest what might cause cancer.
However, these studies do not give final answers. Their findings need more proof. They often lead to bigger, longer studies. These larger studies are called "longitudinal large-cohort studies." They follow many people over a long time. This helps confirm the early findings.
Norman Breslow believed in using many types of studies. He thought this was the best way to fight big problems like cancer. His work helped guide cancer research for many years.
Awards and Honors
Norman Breslow received many awards for his work. He was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society in the U.K. This is a special honor from a British statistics group.
He also received these important awards:
- The Speigelman Gold Medal Award (1978). This was from the American Public Health Association.
- The Snedecor Award (1995).
- The R.A. Fisher Award (1995). Both of these were from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies.
- The Nathan Mantel Award (2002). This was from the ASA Section on Statistics in Epidemiology.
- The Marvin Zelen Leadership Award in Statistical Science (2008). This award came from Harvard University.
- The Medal of Honor (2005). This was from the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
He was also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His father, Lester Breslow, was also a fellow at the same time. Norman Breslow passed away in 2015 from prostate cancer.
