BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Provide the following information for the key personnel and other significant contributors in the order listed on Form Page 2.
Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FOUR PAGES.
NAME
POSITION TITLE
Gavrilov, Leonid A.
Senior Research Scientist
eRA COMMONS USER NAME
GAVRILOV-LEONID
EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, and include postdoctoral training.)
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
Moscow State University, Russia
Moscow State University, Russia
NORC at the University of Chicago
DEGREE
(if applicable)
YEAR(s)
M.S.
Ph.D.
K02 Training
1976
1980
2005
FIELD OF STUDY
Chemistry
Genetics
Sociology/Biodemography
A. Personal Statement
My research interests were always focused on the problem of aging and longevity. Despite my background in
natural sciences, I came to a conclusion that aging should be studied at population level, so my early studies
were focused on the developing field of biodemography of aging and longevity. My research on aging in the
former Soviet Union (at Moscow State University) culminated in the publication of a book The Biology of Life
Span: A Quantitative Approach (Harwood Academic, NY, USA). This book received favorable reviews from
journals Nature, British Medical Journal, Population Studies and has been cited by Encyclopedia Britannica as
recommended reference. In 2001 I have received Independent Scientist Award from NIH, which had a
profound impact on my scientific career and allowed me not only to acquire new research skills and to
complete the proposed research projects, but also to add behavioral and social components to my research
methods as I moved from aggregate- to individual-level data analysis. The overarching purpose of the current
interdisciplinary project on biodemography of exceptional longevity is to explore biological and social correlates
of exceptional longevity with focus on long-term effects of early-life and mid-life events and conditions. The
major objective of this study is to explore whether individuals with exceptional longevity are different from
persons with average lifespan in respect of their early-life, adult, familial, gender, physical (e.g., height, build),
and genetic characteristics and to examine the role of gender, regional, seasonal, and socioeconomic factors
in longevity determination. My long-term research interests lie in the area of aging studies both at the
individual and at the population level. Focus on the lifespan development at later ages is an important area of
my research.
B. Positions and Honors
Positions and Employment
1980-1987
Research Scientist, A.N. Belozersky Institute, Moscow State University
1987-1991
Senior Research Scientist, A.N. Belozersky Institute, Moscow State University
1991-1997
Principal Research Scientist, A.N. Belozersky Institute, Moscow State University
1997-Present
Senior Research Scientist, Center on Aging, NORC at the University of Chicago
Other Experience and Professional Memberships
Editorial Board Member: Experimental Gerontology, Gerontology (Karger), Rejuvenation Research, Advances
in Aging Research, Theoretical Biology and Medical Modeling, The Scientific World Journal, Advanced
Science Letters, Public Health Frontier, World Journal of Translational Medicine (WJTM), Journal of AntiAging Medicine (1997-2004), Health Care in Later Life (1996-1998).
Research Proposals Reviewer: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (2012 Network
of Centres of Excellence of Canada, Expert Panel 8), U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation
(CRDF), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), The Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Mathematics
of Information Technology and Complex Systems Network of Centres of Excellence (MITACS-NCE),
Canada.
Referee: AGE (Journal of the American Aging Association), Ageing Research Reviews, Annals of Human
Genetics, Biodemography and Social Biology, Biogerontology, Biology Letters (Royal Society), BioMed
Central, Demography, Economics & Human Biology, European Journal of Population, Evolutionary
Ecology Research (ISSN 1522-0613), Experimental Gerontology, FEBS Letters, Genus, Gerontology,
International Journal of Biometeorology, International Journal of Epidemiology, Journal of Anti-Aging
Medicine, Journal of Gerontology (Biological Sciences), Journal of Gerontology (Medical Sciences),
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Journal of the
Royal Statistical Society, Series A (Statistics In Society), Journal of Theoretical Biology, Mathematical
Biosciences, Mathematical Population Studies, Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, PLoS ONE,
Population, Population and Development Review, Population Studies, Rejuvenation Research,
Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, Social Biology, Social Science & Medicine, Sociological Methodology,
TheScientificWorldJournal.
Membership: Gerontological Society of America (fellow, member of the Executive Committee on Biological
Sciences, member of the Task Force on Organizational Technology and Computers, 2007-2009),
Population Association of America.
Consultant for the NIA: NIH Professional Service Contract #263 SDN74858.
Honors
 Moscow Society of Naturalists. Award for the best scientific research in natural science in 1986-1988
 International Science Foundation Emergency Award for Russian Scientists of the Top Category (1993)
 U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation Proposal Development Program Award (1996)
 The European Union award (INTAS grant #93-1617)
 Featured in Wall Street Journal (March 2nd, 2012), The NIH Record (October 26, 2012), Science (6
June 1997, p.1503), The Scientist (May 13, 2002, p.20), Sunday Times London (June 15, 1997), The
Guardian, UK (September 01, 2004), IEEE Spectrum (September 2004 issue, cover story)
 Cited by Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, 2002-2003, Who's Who in Science and Engineering
2003-3004, Who's Who in America 2002-2003. Cited by Encyclopedia Britannica as the author of
recommended book "The Biology of Life Span."
 Invited author for Macmillan Encyclopedia of Aging (3 articles), Journal of Theoretical Biology special
issue (2001, vol. 213), Springer-Verlag monograph "Sex and Longevity" (2000), Handbook of the
Biology of Aging (2005), International Handbook of the Demography of Aging, Springer (2009), and
Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development, Gale Cengage (2008).
 Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America
Selected high-profile presentations (last five years):
 Keynote: Demographic Analysis and Research International Workshop (Demographics-2013), June
2013, Mataro, Spain.
 Lecturer: Institut Universitaire de Medecine Sociale et Preventive, Universite de Lausanne (IUMSP), June
2013, Lausanne, Switzerland.
 Opening session lecture: International Conference "Determinants of Unusual and Differential Longevity,"
November 2012, Vienna, Austria.
 Keynote: Department of Molecular Biology retreat, October, 2012, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
 Keynote: Demographic Analysis and Research International Conference (Demographics 2012), June
2012, Chania, Greece.
 Keynote: International Congress "Our Common Future," November, 2010, Hannover-Essen, Germany.
 United Nations (UNPFA) Seminar "Contemporary Methods of Mortality Analysis," November, 2008,
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
C. Selected Publications (in chronological order)
1. Gavrilov L. A., and N. S. Gavrilova. 1991. The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach, New York:
Harwood Academic Publisher. 385p.
2. Gavrilov, L. A., and N. S. Gavrilova. 2001. The Reliability Theory of Aging and Longevity. Journal of
Theoretical Biology, 213 (4): 527-545. PMID: 11742523
3. Gavrilov, L. A., and N. S. Gavrilova. 2001. Biodemographic Study of Familial Determinants of Human
Longevity. Population: An English Selection, 13(1): 197-222.
4. Gavrilov, L. A., N. S. Gavrilova, S. J. Olshansky, and B. A. Carnes. 2002. Genealogical Data and
Biodemography of Human Longevity. Social Biology, 49 (1-2):120-133. PMID: 14652915
5. Gavrilova NS, Gavrilov LA, Semyonova VG, Evdokushkina GN. 2004. Does Exceptional Human Longevity
Come With High Cost of Infertility? Testing the Evolutionary Theories of Aging. Annals of the New York
Academy of Sciences, 1019: 513-517. PMID: 15247077
6. Gavrilov, L. A., and N. S. Gavrilova. 2004. Early-Life Programming of Aging and Longevity: The Idea of
High Initial Damage Load (the HIDL Hypothesis). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1019:
496-501. PMID: 15247073
7. Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova NS. 2006. Reliability theory of aging and longevity. In: Masoro E.J. & Austad S.N..
(eds.): Handbook of the Biology of Aging (Sixth Edition) (pp. 3-42). New York: Academic Press, Elsevier.
8. Gavrilova N.S., Gavrilov L.A. 2007. Search for predictors of exceptional human longevity: using
computerized genealogies and internet resources for human longevity studies. North American Actuarial
Journal, 11(1): 49-67. PMID: 22308064
9. Gavrilova N.S., Gavrilov L.A., Search for mechanisms of exceptional longevity. Rejuvenation Research,
2010, 13(2-3): 262-264. PMID: 20370503. PMCID: PMC2946054
10. Gavrilov L.A., Gavrilova N.S. Mortality measurement at advanced ages: A study of the Social Security
Administration Death Master File. North American Actuarial Journal, 2011, 15(3): 432-447. PMID:
22308064. PMCID: PMC3269912
11. Gavrilov L.A., Gavrilova N.S. Season of birth and exceptional longevity: Comparative study of American
centenarians, Their Siblings, and Spouses. Journal of Aging Research, 2011, Article ID 104616, 11 pages,
doi:10.4061/2011/104616. PMID: 22187646. PMCID: PMC3236478
12. Gavrilova N.S., Gavrilov L.A., Severin, F.F. and Skulachev, V.P. Testing predictions of the programmed
and stochastic theories of aging: Comparison of variation in age at death, menopause, and sexual
maturation. Biochemistry (Moscow), 2012, 77(7), 754-760. PMID: 22817539 PMCID: PMC3428266
13. Gavrilov L.A., Gavrilova N.S. Biodemography of exceptional longevity: Early-life and mid-life predictors of
human longevity. Biodemography and Social Biology, 2012, 58(1):14-39, DOI:
10.1080/19485565.2012.666121. PMID: 22582891 PMCID: PMC3354762
14. Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova NS. Determinants of exceptional human longevity: new ideas and findings. Vienna
Yearbook of Population Research 2013;11:295-323. PMCID: PMC4165392.
15. Gavrilova NS, Gavrilov LA. Biodemography of old-age mortality in humans and rodents. J Gerontol A Biol
Sci Med Sci 2014:Feb 17. [Epub ahead of print], doi: 0.1093/gerona/glu009. PMID: 24534516. PMC
Journal - In Process.
D. Research Support
Ongoing Research
R01 AG028620 (Gavrilov)
1/1/09 to 31/12/2013 (unfunded
continuation to 12/31/2014)
NIA
Biodemography of Exceptional Longevity in the United States
This project proposes to investigate why some people manage to survive to extreme old age (100+ years) and
what are the biological and social correlates of exceptional longevity. The project will take advantage of the
ongoing revolution in information technology for human longevity studies to examine the determinants of
exceptional survival both on individual and population levels, using a rich variety of the U.S. data sources
available through the Internet, including Social Security Administration datasets, Census data, family
reconstitutions and validated genealogies, and military draft records.
Role: Principal Investigator