Rate My Professor Rodney Ehrlich

Professor Rodney Ehrlich is an Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Scholar in the Division of Occupational Medicine at the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town. He trained in economics at the University of Cape Town and Oxford University before completing his MBChB at UCT in 1981. He subsequently worked at the National Centre for Occupational Health in Johannesburg and trained in occupational medicine and epidemiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He qualified as a specialist in Community Health at UCT in 1992 and has worked in the Occupational Diseases Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital since 1990. His research focuses on occupational and environmental health, including silicosis, tuberculosis in miners and health workers, workers’ compensation, and social epidemiology. Ehrlich has held adjunct faculty appointments at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He received a Fellowship by peer review of the College of Public Health Medicine (SA) in Occupational Medicine and was elected to the Collegium Ramazzini, an international college of occupational and environmental health scientists. He co-edited the widely used textbook Epidemiology: A Research Manual for South Africa with Gina Joubert. Ehrlich retired at the end of April 2016 but continues his contributions as a senior scholar attached to the Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research at UCT. He has delivered a valedictory address at the School’s annual research day and maintains an active role in research on occupational lung diseases.

Throughout his career, Ehrlich has combined clinical practice with public health research, examining former mineworkers and addressing the health impacts of dusty work environments in Southern Africa. His work has contributed to understanding the prevalence of silicosis and its interaction with tuberculosis, as well as broader issues in workers’ health and compensation systems. Ehrlich convenes or has convened programs in public health at UCT and has influenced the field through mentorship, research outputs, and editorial contributions to epidemiology resources tailored to South African contexts.