Leonid Gavrilov

Leonid A. Gavrilov, Ph.D. in Genetics from Moscow State University, M.Sc. in Chemistry from Moscow State University, is a Senior Research Scientist for the Center on the Demography and Economics of Aging with NORC at the University of Chicago. He also is a faculty member in the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasion Studies at the University of Chicago. Gavrilov specializes on a wide range of theoretical topics from evolutionary biology to the biodemography of aging and longevity, mathematical modeling of aging and mortality, population aging and the demography of the Former Soviet Union.

Gavrilov is currently the principal investigator for Biodemography of Exceptional Longevity in the United States, a study funded by the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) in which he is investigating biological and social correlates for people that live over 100. Other studies funded by the NIA include Middle-Life Physical Markers, Socioeconomic Status and Exceptional Longevity: An Exploratory Study of a New Data Resource, and the Biodemography of Human Longevity - Training Program. Both projects focused on aging and acted as pre-cursors to Gavrilov's current work with Biodemography of Exceptional Longevity in the United States. Gavrilov works at NORC with long-time colleague Natalia S. Gavrilova, Ph.D., and has developed a number of joint publications and projects with her.

Before coming to the United States, Gavrilov held senior research positions in Moscow (Russia) at the A.N. Belozersky Institute, Moscow State University and at the Institute for Systems Analysis, Russian Academy of Sciences.

In demand as a speaker at conferences, meetings, and workshops internationally, Gavrilov's work has been featured in a variety of publications, such as Population Research and Policy Review, North American Actuarial Journal, Social Biology, Journal of Theoretical Biology, Population, Demographic Research,Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Human Biology, Handbook of the Biology of Aging (Sixth Edition), and many more. He serves on several editorial boards, including Experimental Gerontology (Elsevier Science, Inc.), Gerontology (Karger), Rejuvenation Research (Mary Ann Libert Inc. Publishers), Advanced Science Letters (American Scientific Publishers) and Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling (BioMed Central).

The Moscow Society of Naturalists, the International Science Foundation, the European Union and others have honored and recognized Gavrilov for his ongoing contributions to research in aging. He is a member of the Population Association of America and a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, where he has served on the Executive Committee on Biological Sciences and the Task Force on Organizational Technology and Computers. He is currently a Convener for the Gerontological Society of America Interest Group "Societal Implications of Delayed Aging".