Epidemiologist
She grew up surrounded by poverty. At a university studying history and later medicine, she wanted to use both disciplines to explore the effects of poverty in society.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
Zena Stein (ZS) was born outside the United States. Her father was a mathematics professor, and her mother was a homemaker.
CHILDHOOD
ZS came of age within a racially segregated society. That backdrop shaped her approach to how she would, as an adult, study epidemiology: she aimed to identify the social, economic, and political conditions that can affect the health of a population as well as individuals, an approach known as ‘social medicine’ or ‘community-based medicine.’
EDUCATION
Following high school graduation, ZS earned her university’s Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in history, followed by a medical degree.
A CAREER PATH MAY ZIG AND ZAG WITHIN ITS OVERALL FOCUS
ZS married soon after graduating from medical school. The newlyweds had no financial savings, so they had to immediately take whatever jobs were available. ZS’s first job within medicine was to work nights treating patients in a mental hospital. When her husband found a teaching job in a different location, they moved their residence, where ZS soon found work as a researcher focusing on intellectual disability.
Now with their three children, the family went to the United States, where the husband / father soon obtained a job as a university professor. Fortunately, ZS was hired as a teacher there as well, first as an associate professor of epidemiology, then earning a full professorship and assuming administrative positions in what is now the university’s ‘School of Public Health.’ Her work included research on developmental disorders in children.
(Editor – Epidemiology is the branch of medical science that investigates all the factors that determine the presence or absence of diseases and disorders. Epidemiological research helps us to understand how many have a disease or disorder, if those numbers are changing and how the disorder affects our society and our economy.
Much of the data that epidemiologists collect comes from self-reports – from answers provided by people participating in a study. For example, an epidemiological study may collect data on the number of people who answer “Yes” when asked if someone in their household has trouble hearing. Each person providing such an answer may interpret “trouble hearing” differently. This means that the results of such a study may be quite different from a study in which actual hearing (audiometric) tests are administered to each person in a household.
May epidemiological estimates try to determine how the number of people affected by a disorder changes over time. The definition of a ‘disorder’ also tends to change with time, however, making estimates more difficult. Even scientists working in the same specialty area of science at the same time may not agree on the best way to measure or define a particular disorder. Thus, the need for continuing scientific research seeking to reproduce results under the same circumstances with different subjects, then publishing the results of the study and subjecting the study to peer review (i.e., publishing comments and disagreements by similarly qualified scientists until a consensus is formed, at least until the next contradictory study.)
ZS and her husband were founding members of a university center for the study of disorders of the nervous system. Later, ZS co-founded the H.I.V. Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at a state psychiatric institute, partnering with the university where ZS was a professor. The center embarked on the first major effort to draw attention to women living with AIDS. It is now one of the largest centers of its kind in the world, employing about 100 investigators and staff members in the study of H.I.V. using different disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry, public health, anthropology, sociology, and social work.
With a constant search for knowledge, ZS’ scientific research focused on women’s health at a time when the bulk of scientific study spotlighted men. She was also well known for her research on child development and on mental illness.
CHALLENGE – TESTING COMMON WISDOM
ZS often spoke of her most treasured accomplishment: a seminal (highly influential) study on a nine-month stretch of famine during war. The study was based on government data assembled and examined by ZS and her husband. In a finding that countered the accepted wisdom at the time, they showed that babies born during a famine were no more likely to experience cognitive deficiencies than babies raised with plentiful food. (Editor – Later research, however, showed possible links between prenatal famine exposure and congenital nervous system problems.) Further research by other scientists using the same data pointed to folate, or the various forms of vitamin B9, as a key nutrient during pregnancy, leading the U.S. government to recommend daily folic acid supplements during gestation. The large data set is still in use today.)
CAREER SATISFACTION
ZS and her husband worked as a team, conducting hundreds of studies, many of which shaped the field of epidemiology and community health care. ZS is listed as the author or co-author of 270 academic articles and several books, including “Eras of Epidemiology: The Evolution of Ideas.”
Early in their careers, the couple ran a clinic with another husband-and-wife medical team. In one of their first articles, appearing in the well-respected medical journal The Lancet, they demonstrated that melding medical care and social support made people healthier. The clinic taught patients and family members, for example, how to care for illnesses at home and pregnant women how to improve nutrition. Varieties of the treatment plans which ZS helped develop are still in use today.
ZS and her husband wrote guidelines for healthcare.
A former student of ZS noted her teacher’s relentless pursuit of knowledge. “She always wanted me to go further and deeper into understanding issues. ‘Is that all you can conclude? Where does that take us? Can’t you do more? ‘ “
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This career story is based on several sources, including an obituary written by Annabelle Williams, published by The New York Times on 11/23/21 plus online research including Wikipedia.
