About Us

Ralph J. Coates, PhD

Associate Director for Science, Office of Public Health Genomics, CDC

Dr. Coates joined the Office of Public Health Genomics in June 2007, as the associate director for science. He was formerly the associate director for science of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at CDC. Dr. Coates received his BA from Harvard University in 1971, an MS from the University of Wisconsin in 1975, and a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Washington in 1986. Prior to beginning work at CDC in 1996, he was an associate professor in the Epidemiology Department at Emory University where he is now an adjunct professor. At Emory, he conducted research in cancer epidemiology and nutritional epidemiology, was co-director of the Nutrition and Health Sciences Program, and taught in the School of Public Health. He is author or co-author of more than 130 publications on cancer epidemiology and surveillance, nutritional epidemiology, disparities, and cancer prevention and control. He has served on advisory panels and working groups for the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Institute of Medicine, the President’s Cancer Panel, the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Cancer Society.

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