Leonid Gavrilov is a biogerontologist and a biodemographer at the Center on Aging, National Opinion Research Center (NORC) affiliated with the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

. He specializes in the mathematical modeling of aging and mortality, biodemography

Biodemography

Biodemography is the science dealing with the integration of biology and demography.Biodemography is a new branch of human demography concerned with understanding the complementary biological and demographic determinants of and interactions between the birth and death processes that shape...

 and the genetics of aging and longevity. He has written two books, several chapters and numerous scientific papers. His book 'The biology of life span: A quantitative approach' is cited as the recommended reference by the Encyclopedia Britannica. He is the Associate Editor of scientific journals 'Experimental Gerontology' and 'Theoretical biology and Medical modelling' and an Editorial Board Member of 'Rejuvenation Research', 'Advanced Science Letters' and 'The Scientific World Journal'. He is also a consultant for the National Research Council and the National Institutes of Aging , and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America . He is known for the development of the reliability theory of aging , studies of the Biodemography of human longevity

Biodemography of human longevity

Biodemography is a multidisciplinary approach, integrating biological knowledge with demographic research on human longevity and survival...

 and the Compensation law of mortality

Compensation law of mortality

The compensation law of mortality states that the relative differences in death rates between different populations of the same biological species decrease with age, because the higher initial death rates in disadvantaged populations are compensated by lower pace of mortality increase with age...

.

Biography

He became interested in aging during his late teens when it became necessary to think about what he should do after high school. He decided that a proper understanding of chemistry was necessary to investigate aging. Therefore he decided to study chemistry and re/eived his MSc in chemistry from Moscow State University in 1976. After his MSc in chemistry he decided to go for a PhD in genetics, which he received in 1980 at Moscow State University. After he received his PhD he spent 10 years on scientific research and self-education during which he wrote his first book 'The biology of life span'. Afterwards he and his wife emigrated to the US where he received a grant from the US National Institute on Aging (NIA) to study the familial component of longevity. He taught 'Biodemography of human mortality and longevity' at the university of Chicago. He currently works on a research project called 'Biodemography of exceptional longevity' funded by the NIA. Preliminary findings have already been published.