Dr. Lewis C. Robbins; First U.S. Chief of Cancer Control

Dr. Lewis C. Robbins, 81, the first chief of cancer control for the U.S. Public Health Service and a pioneering researcher in appraising health hazards. In the early 1960s, he developed his Health Hazard Appraisal Chart that helps health professionals analyze an individual’s risks and suggest changes in health habits, such as lowering cholesterol and exercising, to minimize those risks. The chart was based on Dr. Robbins’ 20-year study of the health and lifestyles of 5,000 people. The physician worked as a city and later federal health officer in San Antonio, Chicago, Southeast Asia and Africa and was the country’s cancer chief from 1957 to 1965. In Indianapolis on Thursday of cancer.