Robert
W. Haley, M.D., is Professor of
Internal Medicine and Director
of the Division of Epidemiology
in the Internal Medicine
Department at the University of
Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical
Center at Dallas and holder of
the U.S. Armed Forces Veterans
Distinguished Chair for Medical
Research Honoring America’s
Gulf War Veterans. He received
his B.A. degree in Philosophy
and Social Sciences from
Southern Methodist University in
Dallas, where he served as
instructor in Philosophy for a
year. He received his M.D.
degree from UT Southwestern
Medical School at Dallas as a
member of Alpha Omega Alpha
medical honor society and served
an internship and residency in
Internal Medicine at Parkland
Memorial Hospital in Dallas. He
spent 10 years (1973-1983) at
the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC),
serving as a commissioned
officer in the U.S. Public
Health Service. At CDC he served
as an epidemic investigator in
the Epidemic Intelligence
Service, a resident in
Preventive Medicine, Director of
the Hospital Infections Program,
and Director of the nationwide
Study on the Efficacy of
Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC
Project). He achieved the rank
of O-6 and received the U.S.
Public Health Service
Commendation Medal for his
research contributions while at
the CDC. In 1998 the Hospital
Infections Program was
recognized by CDC as one of the
four most important
accomplishments in its 50-year
history.
Dr. Haley has
conducted extensive research on
the epidemiology and prevention
of hospital-acquired (nosocomial)
infections to improve the
quality of hospital care and,
more recently, the Gulf War
syndrome. Topics of particular
interest have been nationwide
surveys and research studies on
the efficacy of hospital
infection control programs,
multivariate intrinsic risk
indexes for use in comparing
hospitals' infection rates, the
costs of nosocomial infections
and cost-benefit analysis,
descriptive epidemiology of
nosocomial infections and
infection control programs, and
systems for reducing infection
risks.
What is the true threat of
Bioterrorism?
What is Dallas County’s
level of preparedness?
His most
recent research, beginning in
1994 and funded initially by the
Perot Foundation, has been to
understand the nature and causes
of the Gulf War syndrome in
veterans of the Persian Gulf
War. Following three
publications of initial findings
in the January, 1997, issue of The
Journal of the American Medical
Association, he is currently
completing a new research
program, funded by the
Department of Defense and the
Perot Foundation, to work out
the mechanisms of brain injury
in the veterans and identify
tests and treatments for the
Gulf War illness. His newest
publications have reported a
genetic predisposition to Gulf
War syndrome that appears to
link the illness to nerve gas
exposure and brain cell injury
in deep brain structures
identified by magnetic resonance
spectroscopy. Dr. Haley and his
research group have published
over 120 research papers, review
articles and letters in
peer-reviewed scientific
journals, including 16 primary
research papers, 4 reviews and 9
research letters on Gulf War
illness. Dr. Haley is currently
the coordinator for basic
research related to bioterrorism
defense on the UT Southwestern
Medical Center campus.
Dr. Haley is
president of the Dallas County
Medical Society and a member of
the Society’s Board of Health
that coordinates planning and
communication on biological and
chemical terrorism for the
Dallas medical community. Dr.
Haley has lectured extensively
throughout the U.S. and in many
foreign countries including
European countries, Mexico,
Argentina, China and Korea.
