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Paul K. Whelton, MD, MSc

Internationally recognized epidemiologist Paul Kieran Whelton, M.D., M.Sc., serves as senior vice president for Health Sciences, Tulane University Health Sciences Center; professor of medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine; and professor of epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

He began his work with Tulane in January 1997 as dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and advanced to senior vice president for Health Sciences in August 1999.

Dr. Whelton came to Tulane after 26 years at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland. At Johns Hopkins, he served as director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research; Outpatient General Clinical Research Center; PRO-HEALTH Community Research Center; and the Training Program in Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. Dr. Whelton was professor in both the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

A medical school graduate of the National University of Ireland, Dr. Whelton earned a master's degree in epidemiology from the University of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is an authority on the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and renal disease, having published several books and hundreds of articles on these topics.

Dr. Whelton has conducted a series of ground-breaking studies on hypertension for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; and the National Institute on Aging. He has served as a consultant to many national and international health agencies and numerous governments in economically developed and developing countries.

Dr. Whelton is a native of Cork City, Ireland. He and his wife, Shelagh, have two children, Seamus and Megan.