Walter O. Spitzer (1937–2006) was a Canadian epidemiologist and professor of epidemiology and health at McGill University, a position he held from 1975 until his retirement in 1995.
He was the eldest son of Paul Rosenberg and Elsa Spitzer,[2] both of whom were Baptist missionaries.
[1] He was appointed a faculty member at McGill in 1975, and was credited with bringing its Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics to "new, more collegial premises".
[5] Spitzer was also the chair of the Quebec Task Force on Spinal Disorders, convened in 1983.
[8][9] He has also been credited as a major figure in the development of the modern system of evidence-based medicine, along with Archie Cochrane and David Sackett.