Robert D. Morris

Robert D. Morris, MD, PhD, is a physician and an environmental epidemiologist with particular expertise in human health risks related to drinking water. He has served as an advisor or consultant to many institutions nationally and internationally including the President’s Cancer Panel, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the Centers for Disease Control, the International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes, and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Environmental Epidemiology.

His first book The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink, combines the intriguing medical and epidemiological mystery of The Hot Zone and And The Band Played On with an alarming warning about the terrible dangers that our current water supply faces every day - from both natural and outside threats. Morris begins with a journey through the history of waterborne disease -going back to the incredible thriller-like story behind the 19th century discovery of how cholera was transmitted and could be prevented - and ends with shocking revelations about the deadly threats that still hide in the transparency of the water we drink.

In addition to his MD, he holds an M.S. in biostatics and a PhD in environmental engineering. He has held faculty appointments at Tufts University School of Medicine, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Washington State University and Harvard University School of Public Health. He is currently a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health.

He has published more than 50 articles in scientific literature as well op-ed pieces in numerous papers including the New York Times, Boston Globe, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and the Albuquerque Journal.  His research has been featured on national and international media including Dateline NBC, the CBS Evening News, NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Times of London. He lives in Seattle, WA.

Drinking Water Safety

Drinking Water History

Environmental Health

Environmental Epidemiology