Rob Waterland PhD

Dr. Robert Waterland is a Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and is based in the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas. He holds faculty appointments in the Department of Pediatrics / Nutrition and the Department of Molecular & Human Genetics. Dr. Waterland received his B.S. in Physics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and worked for several years at the University of Pennsylvania, first with Britton Chance (biochemistry/biophysics), then with Albert Stunkard (clinical obesity research). After earning his Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from Cornell University (with Cutberto Garza), he conducted postdoctoral research in developmental genetics with Randy Jirtle at Duke University. Dr. Waterland’s research focuses on understanding how nutrition during critical periods of prenatal and early postnatal development affects gene expression, metabolism, and chronic disease susceptibility in adulthood. His laboratory studies both mouse models and humans to elucidate the mechanisms by which early nutrition and other environmental influences affect the establishment and maintenance of epigenetic gene regulation, with a focus on DNA methylation. He serves on the council of the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, and various journal editorial boards.

Email: waterland@bcm.edu