Stephen Luby, MD, earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy from Creighton University in 1981 and a medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas in 1986. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital. Dr. Luby studied epidemiology and public health in the Epidemic Intelligence Service and the Preventive Medicine Residency of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Luby has authored over 120 scientific articles, the majority concerning communicable disease epidemiology in low-income countries.
Stephen P. (Steve) Luby, MD, is the winner of the inaugural OU International WaTER Prize. Luby is with the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B).
He was nominated by WaTER Prize Juror Daniele Lantagne of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who also prepared and delivered the PowerPoint tribute highlighting Steve's remarkable career:
Luby is best known for his seminal study on the efficacy of handwashing in preventing disease in children:
Luby, S.P. et al., 2005. Effect of handwashing on child health: a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 366(9481): 225-233.
The fact that handwashing works may sound like a no-brainer, but until Luby's work, there had been no documentation of that fact.
Here are some related papers:
Download luby_waterhandwashing.pdf
The five jurors each nominated one person. In addition to Lantagne, the other jurors were: Malcolm S. Morris (Millennium Water Alliance and Living Water International); Greg S. Allgood (Procter and Gamble); Henock Gezahegne (Population Services International - Ethiopia); and yours truly.
The first OU WaTER Center Conference, October 26-27, 2009, was held in Norman, Oklahoma where Dr. Luby received his prize and delivered a keynote address.
"If you want peace, work for public health." -- Dr. Steve Luby
