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Patricia Buffler, leader in child cancer research, dies at 75

By Public Affairs

buffler

Professor Patricia Buffler, an internationally renowned researcher in childhood leukemia and environmental health at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, died Thursday, Sept. 26 at the age of 75.

Patricia Buffler

Professor Patricia Buffler

Holder of the Kenneth and Marjorie Kaiser Chair in Cancer Epidemiology, Buffler began her distinguished 22-year tenure at Berkeley in 1991, when she joined the faculty as professor of epidemiology and dean of public health.

Buffler “touched many, many lives here at the School and in the community,” Stefano Bertozzi, dean of public health, wrote in an email to the School today. “Her death creates an enormous void, professional and personal.”

Researching the causes and prevention of childhood leukemia and brain tumors was a distinguishing feature of Buffler’s career. She received numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health to lead comprehensive and long-term studies, including the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study, on the molecular epidemiology of childhood leukemia and environmental exposures and leukemia.

Buffler was a member of the Institute of Medicine, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an honorary member of the American College of Epidemiology.

Click here to read the full obituary.