Zena Stein

Zena Stein is a South African epidemiologist, activist and doctor. She is currently Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry at Columbia University.

Having begun her career at a clinic in Alexandra Township, Stein and her husband Mervyn Susser left South Africa in 1955 for political reasons. They spent a decade at Manchester University, where they were active in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, before leaving for New York.

Stein's research has included work on child development, contraception, psychiatric disorders, miscarriage, preterm delivery and birth defects. With Susser, she published a now famous paper on the epidemiology of peptic ulcer.

Towards the end of their careers, Stein and Susser focused increasingly on HIV advocacy and research, both in the United States and in their native South Africa. With other health activists, they organised a meeting in Maputo in April 1990, which aimed to alert the African National Congress to the threat. The impact of this meeting was limited. With others, they were, however, successful in securing funding for a programme of HIV/AIDS research in Southern Africa and Stein and Susser served as co-directors of the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies in 1999.