Peter Boyle (epidemiologist)
Peter Boyle was a British epidemiologist. He conducted research on globalisation of cancer, where he showed the dramatic increase of cancer in low- and medium income countries.
Early life and education
Boyle was born in Glasgow, Scotland and studied statistics at the University of Glasgow.Career
He initially wanted to become a teacher but became fascinated in science. From 1974 to 1977 he worked as a statistician at the University Department of Medicine, Glasgow and the following seven years at the West of Scotland Cancer Surveillance Unit in Glasgow. Here, he developed his lifelong concern over tobacco and tobacco control, and was drawn into epidemiology.In 1984, he moved to Boston and worked at the Departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health and the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute as Instructor and Assistant Professor. During this time Boyle coauthored his first two Lancet publications on cancer mortality in Scotland. In 1986, he returned to Europe and became Scientist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, in Lyon, and Group Head of SEARCH, University of Milan, University of Pittsburgh, University of Glasgow, University of Innsbruck, University of Oxford.
Personal life and death
Boyle was married and had three daughters, two sons-in-law and three grandchildren. He joked that "the stream of strange foreign medical people arriving for dinner over the years was a clear risk factor in their career choices". He was very fond of Chinese restaurants and died on 23 July 2022 after a long illness in Lyon.Service
From 1995 to 2003 he was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and of the European Journal of Cancer from 1990 to 1994. Boyle was associate editor of Oncology and Haematology Literature Service from 1993 to 1998 and for the journals Annals of Oncology and the British Journal of Urology International. Furthermore, he was a member of the editorial boards of the following Journals, Cancer Causes and Control, Swiss Journal of Social and Preventive Medicine, British Journal of Cancer, Prospectives, BPH Observer, The Breast (journal), Oral Oncology, European R and D Database, Lung Cancer, Journal of Radiation Therapy, European Cancer News, Journal of Gynecologic Oncology, Annals of Oncology, URO, Breast Cancer Online, Lancet, Nature Reviews Urology, Molecular Oncology.Scientific work
Boyle published more than 500 articles in scientific journals and co-authored some 23 books, including textbooks and cancer atlases.Boyle's specific field of investigation was prevention research. He contributed to the fields of tobacco and lung cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer. Boyle was an internationally well-known cancer prevention advocate.
Boyle was member of many national and international scientific committees, including Secretary, Epidemiology and Prevention Branch, EORTC, Brussels, Chairman, Epidemiology and Prevention Branch, European Society of Mastology, International Prostate Health Council, Scientific Advisory Board, European School of Oncology, Milan, Chairman, European Commission Expert Committee Cancer Plan, Chairman, Scientific Evaluation Committee, European Tobacco Fund, EC, CEO Advisory Committee, American Cancer Society, International Affairs Committee, American Association for Cancer Research, Multidisciplinary Oncology Committee, European Society for Medical Oncology, International Affairs Committee, American Society of Clinical Oncology.