By : Noah Lloyd
Matthew Miller likes to stop problems before they start.
A professor of public health and health sciences at Northeastern University, Miller has spent the past quarter-century developing an “epidemiologic perspective,” he says, “focused on injuries of all types, but mostly firearm-related injuries and suicide.”
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) recently elected Miller as a new member, for his “foundational epidemiological research on firearm access and suicide” that “enhanced our understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of suicide prevention via lethal means restrictions,” the Academy wrote in its election announcement.
NAM serves in both a consultory capacity at the national level “to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions,” it states, and recognizes “outstanding contributions to knowledge” and the sciences.
Miller came to epidemiologic work while studying oncology during his medical training. He wanted “to figure out if there are ways of preventing people from getting cancer in the first place,” rather than only treating them after the fact.
