David Scales

Contributing author

David Scales is a medical sociologist and research fellow with HealthMap. He currently leads a project developing an online tool for users to do geographically based risk analysis incorporating information on demography, migration and infectious diseases. His research focuses on examining the relationship between new demographic indicators and infectious disease among foreign born populations in the US as well as analyzing HealthMap data to predict periods of higher and lower reliability. 

He wrote his dissertation on the International Health Regulations, pandemic influenza preparedness and the Codex Alimentarius, which are WHO regulations designed to prevent, contain or mitigate the effects of disasters and epidemics. This work led to writing a review of the impact of Codex governance procedures on developing country participation. With primary interests in infectious disease and international health, David completed medical rotations in Beirut, Lebanon and Kampala, Uganda. While at Yale, he volunteered as an Arabic translator at a refugee clinic and worked in student groups examining how intellectual property can serve as a barrier to accessing medicines and vaccines in resource-poor countries.