معرفی
Daniel Belsky, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, with a joint appointment at the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center. His research sits at the intersection of public health, population science, and genomics, focusing on how genes and environments combine to shape health across the life course with the goal of reducing social inequalities in aging outcomes.
Dr. Belsky received his BA from Swarthmore College in 2002 and his PhD in Health Policy & Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Public Health in 2012. He completed postdoctoral training at Duke University Medical Center's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. His academic appointments include Assistant Professor at Duke University School of Medicine (2015-2018) before joining Columbia University in 2018 as Assistant Professor, achieving promotion to Associate Professor with tenure in 2023.
His research focuses on understanding how genes and environments interact to influence aging processes, with particular emphasis on developing and applying methods to quantify biological aging. His work includes developing the Pace of Aging (DunedinPoAm) method and translating it into DNA-methylation blood tests. Current NIH-funded projects examine caloric restriction effects on aging (CALERIE), long-term impacts of prenatal famine exposure (Dutch Hunger Winter Family Study), and the potential of anti-poverty interventions to slow biological aging (MyGoals for Healthy Aging).
Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on biological aging biomarkers, particularly DNA methylation clocks, and their relationship to social determinants of health, cognitive outcomes, and interventions that might slow aging processes. His work spans epidemiological methods development, application to major cohort studies, and intervention trials.
- 2023 Academy of Behavioral Medicine Neal Miller New Investigator Award
- 2023 University of Rochester Aging Research Day Keynote Speaker
- 2020 American Journal of Epidemiology Reviewer of the Year
- 2020- ISI Highly Cited Scholar
- 2019 Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) CBD Network Fellow
- 2018 Jacobs Foundation Young Scholar
- 2015 Jacobs Foundation Early Career Research Fellowship
- 2014 National Institute on Aging Butler Williams Scholar
- 2012 NIH Loan Repayment Program Award
Dr. Belsky serves on editorial boards for Journals of Gerontology and Demography. His research is supported by multiple NIH grants as PI/MPI, including R01AG087158 on cash transfers and Alzheimer's risk, R01AG073402 for the MyGoals for Healthy Aging trial, R01AG066887 for the Dutch Hunger Winter Families Study, and R01AG061378 for genomic analysis of the CALERIE trial. He is also involved with the PROMENTA Research Center, which examines mental health and well-being across multiple levels of analysis from genetic risk to socio-cultural context.
