The Donald Reid Medal is awarded triennially by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in recognition of distinguished contributions to epidemiology.
The medal was instituted in 1979 in memory of Professor Donald Reid (1914–1977), who was director of the Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine from 1961 until his sudden death in 1977.
[2] The School Council of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Royal College of Physicians of London propose names for the medal and the eventual recipient of the medal is then nominated by a Committee composed of the Dean of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, two members nominated by the School Council, two members nominated by the president of the Royal College of Physicians (not being members of the staff of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and one member nominated by the Faculty of Public Health Medicine.
[3] Although the award is officially given every three years, there has been a period in which this regularity was not observed.
In 1991, when the award was not made at all, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was undergoing a period of restructuring following the appointment of Professor Richard Feachem as the Dean (the former Dean, Professor Gordon Smith having retired in 1989).