Babette S. Zemel

Babette S. Zemel, PhD, is a Research Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and holds leadership roles as Associate Program Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Center and Director of the Nutrition and Growth Laboratory at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Her research integrates anthropology, nutrition, and pediatrics to study growth, body composition, and bone health in children, particularly in diverse populations and chronic conditions.

Education: Dr. Zemel earned her MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, complemented by fellowships including Dean's Fellow (Faculty of Arts and Sciences), American Association of University Women Fellow, and National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. Her fieldwork includes research at the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research.

Research Focus: Her work spans nutritional anthropology, pediatric bone density, energy metabolism, and body composition dynamics. She investigates genetic, environmental, and clinical factors influencing skeletal development, with applications in obesity, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, and metabolic disorders. Recent studies emphasize genomic influences on growth and innovative clinical assessment tools.

Publications: Dr. Zemel's extensive publication record (15+ recent articles) highlights interdisciplinary themes: genomic architecture of growth, body composition reference standards, and metabolic interactions in pediatric health. Her research employs advanced methodologies from GWAS to metabolomics, consistently addressing translational outcomes.

Awards and Honors:

• 2021: Highest Altmetric Score and Publishing Excellence Award (Osteoporosis International); Fellow, American Society of Bone Mineral Research
• 2019 & 2018: Research Mentor of the Year (CHOP Research Institute and Division of Endocrinology)
• 2009: Early Career Teaching Award (American Society for Bone Mineral Research)
• 1985: Junior Investigator Award (International Congress of Auxology)

Leadership and Teams: She directs the Nutrition and Growth Laboratory and contributes to the GI, Hepatology and Nutrition team at CHOP. Her mentorship and editorial roles (e.g., Section Editor for Annals of Human Biology) underscore her academic influence. Dr. Zemel actively participates in NIH-funded consortia, including studies on chronic pancreatitis and pediatric bone density.