Michael Rip

Michael Russell Rip, M.P.H., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Social Science, and Core Faculty Member of the African Studies Center Department of Epidemiology (College of Human Medicine),

Director, Health Policy Initiatives, Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (College of Social Science).

Director, Undergraduate Specialization in Global Public Health & Epidemiology

Ph.D., 1991, Michigan State University
M.Sc.(Med)., 1984, University of Cape Town Medical School
B.Sc.(Hons)., 1979, University of Cape Town
B.Sc., 1978, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Michigan State University
Department of Epidemiology
B601 West Fee Hall
East Lansing, Michigan 48824
Telephone: 517.353.8623 x114
Fax: 517.432.1130

E-Mail: rip@msu.edu
Community of Science Expertise Profile

Human diseases occur in a fabric of geography and time. As such, the geographical distribution and spread of disease and death can assist the epidemiologist in developing testable hypotheses as to their cause(s). The access to medical facilities and the siting of future facilities are additional topics of interest. Dr. Rip is a spatial epidemiologist and medical geographer interested in exploring the role of geography in reproductive and perinatal epidemiology. He has a long history of such research in Southern Africa. His research interests include: the spatial analysis, mapping, and interpretation of vital statistics data, the regionalization of perinatal care, the tension between regionalized health care and managed care services, and the etiology of childhood leukemia. The application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) to the discipline of epidemiology is included in his teaching and research interests.

Selected Publications

Rip MR, Keen CS, and Kibel MA. A medical geography of perinatal mortality in metropolitan Cape Town. South African Medical Journal. 1986; 70 (7): 399-403.

Rip MR, Keen CS, and Woods DL. Births and perinatal deaths in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. South African Medical Journal. 1986; 70 (13): 827-830.

Woods DL, and Rip MR. Placental villous surface area of light-for-dates infants at term. Early Human Development. 1987; 15 (2): 113-117.

Rip MR, Keen CS, and Woods DL. Intra-urban variations of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in a developing city. Journal of Social Science and Medicine. 1987; 25 (8): 889-894.

Rip MR, Keen CS, and Woods DL. Spatial variations of low birthweight in Cape Town, South Africa. International Journal of Tropical Paediatrics. 1987; 33 (6): 15-18.

Rip MR, Keen CS, and Woods DL. Intra-urban variations of infant mortality in metropolitan Cape Town. Southern African Journal of Science. 1987; 83 (7): 432-434.

Rip MR, Epstein L, Disler P, Taylor S, Whittaker S, Derry C, Sayed R, Bourne D, and Klopper J. Mortality among asian, 'coloured', and white population groups in South Africa, 1978-1982. Part I. All causes. South

Rip MR, and Bourne DE. Neonatal and post-neonatal mortality among blacks living in 'squatter' communities in metropolitan Cape Town. South African Medical Journal. 1987; 72: 724.

Rip MR, Bourne DE, and Woods DL. The characteristics of infant mortality in South Africa, 1929-1983. Part I. Deaths among white and 'coloured' infants. South African Medical Journal. 1988; 73 (4): 227-229.

Rip MR, and Bourne DE. The spatial distribution of infant mortality rates in South Africa, 1982. South African Medical Journal. 1988; 73 (4): 224-226.

Rip MR, Woods DL, Keen CS, and Van C de Groot H. Perinatal health in the black peri-urban township of Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Part I. Mothers and their newborn infants. South African Medical Journal. 1988; 74 (12): 629-632.

Rip MR, Woods DL, Keen CS, van C de Groot, H. Perinatal health in the black peri-urban township of Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Part II. Infant mortality. South African Medical Journal. 1988; 74 (12): 633-634.

Rip MR, and Hunter JM. The community perinatal health care system of urban Cape Town, South Africa. Part I. Characteristics of mothers and birth outcomes. Social Science & Medicine. 1990; 30: 111-118.

Rip MR, and Hunter JM. The community perinatal health care system of urban Cape Town, South Africa. Part II. Geographical patterns. Social Science & Medicine. 1990; 30: 119-130.

Sayers G, Rip MR, Jacobs P, et al. Epidemiology of acute leukaemia in the Cape Province of South Africa. International Journal of Leukaemia Research. 1992; 16 (10): 961-966.

Paneth N, and Rip MR. The uses of epidemiology in the evaluation of regional perinatal services. Journal of Social and Preventive Medicine. 1994; 39: 1-5.

Paneth N, Vinten-Johanse P, Brody H, and Rip MR. A rivalry of foulness: Official and unofficial investigations of the London cholera epidemic of 1854. American Journal of Public Health (October 1998), 88(10): 1545-1553.

Brody H, Rip MR, Vinten-Johansen P, Paneth N, and Rachman S. Map-making and myth-making in Broad Street: The London cholera epidemic, 1854, The Lancet. (Submitted).

Rip MR and Hasik J. THE PRECISION REVOLUTION - The Navstar Global Positioning System and the Future of Modern Warfare (Annapolis: The Naval Institute Press). (in press).

Vinten-Johansen P, Brody H, Paneth N, Rachman S, and Rip MR. JOHN SNOW: An Intellectual Biography. (New York: Oxford University Press) (in preparation).