Abstract

The increasingly strong interaction between biomedical and epidemiological research is one of the most important steps forward in medicine and public health since World War II. Crucial breakthroughs were the development of powerful observational epidemiological studies, the introduction of convincingly designed clinical trials, and meta-analyses to objectively summarise the results of multiple studies. For this progress, the work of Sir Richard Peto (born in 1943), epidemiologist and statistician at the University of Oxford, Great Britain, has been essential. Peto combined innovative methodological contributions with large-scaled empirical studies, often based on worldwide collaborations, with a special focus on smoking and health, treatment of breast cancer, and cholesterol-lowering interventions. His work both produced and evoked an impressive evidence base to improve clinical and public health practice. In accordance with the advice of a selection committee of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, he was awarded the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine on 2 October 2008.