Description of Research Expertise

Dr. Zemel is a Biological Anthropologist by training, and Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. Her overall research program aims to improve understanding of lifelong health and how it relates to childhood antecedents of physical growth and maturation, body composition, population ancestry/genetics, and lifestyle factors including diet and physical activity. Such understanding has public health implications for disease prevention and lifelong wellness, and addresses concerns for children across a wide spectrum of chronic diseases who experience impaired growth, altered body composition and limitations in nutrition and physical activity.
Her research program has advanced understanding of bone mineral accretion from early childhood through adulthood, and the effects of growth, muscle development, physical activity, diet and genetics on bone health during this critical life phase. She also conducts research in childhood body composition and health outcomes in the general population and in children with chronic diseases, including Down syndrome, sickle cell disease, children with kidney disease, cardiac malformations, cancer survivors, inflammatory bowel disease and type 2 diabetes.