Don Roberts

Donald R. Roberts, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Tropical Public Health in the Division of Tropical Public Health at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Maryland, and a member of the American Council on Science and Health Scientific Advisory Panel. 

Dr. Roberts’ publications have emphasized issues of malaria control, vector responses to insecticide residues, vector ecology, as well as malaria and arbovirus ecology. He has conducted research on the applications of geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing technologies for control of arthropod-borne diseases. He has published on behavioral responses of malaria vectors to DDT and the re-emergence of malaria when house spray programs are abandoned.  

Before retiring he carried out sabbatical studies on impacts of DDT on the environment, human health, and wildlife. His primary geographical areas of interest in insect-borne disease control were in Central and South America. 

Dr. Roberts was honored to have received, in 2007, U.S. Medicine’s Frank Brown Berry Prize for his contributions in the field of malaria control.  He is first author of the 2010 book, "The Excellent Powder: DDT’s Political and Scientific History."