Calen Patrick Ryan, PhD
Office: #414
722 W. 168th Street
New York, NY 10032
I study the effects of reproduction and stress on health and biological aging. To do so, I use high-dimensional epigenetic data and computational statistics to examine the molecular processes that can tell us about the aging process.
Much of my work over the past decade has been carried out in the Philippines with the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS). More recently, I have applied the same tools to study epigenetic processes in other large, longitudinal population studies, as well as randomized-controlled trails of geroprotective interventions, such as caloric restriction.
My research is situated at the intersection of evolutionary biology, medicine, and public health, and has received support from institutions such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Our findings have been featured in popular media outlets, including The Washington Post, CNN, NBC, and Time Magazine.
Click here for his full CV.
news
Aug 21, 2025 | Notice of Award for our very cool grant, “Leveraging IVF to Identify Prenatal Effects Independent of Shared Maternal-Child Genes”! This grant, aims to leverate the spectacular scientific advancements of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and compare maternal prenatal distress effects between IVF donor oocyte/embryo and non-donor oocyte pregnancies. Led by the powerful Catherine Monk with myself as one of the Co-Investigators, was awarded from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). |
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Dec 13, 2024 | Our newest paper, led by yours truly, cataloging the vast multi-tissue, multi-omic molecular datasets generated and curated for the CALERIE randomized trial of caloric restriction is now out, in Nature Aging! Consisting of genetic data and three timepoints of DNAm, mRNA, and small RNA generated in blood, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue across trial participants, we hope this data resource has great potential will help to advance the field of translational geroscience! |
Apr 8, 2024 | Our publication showing that pregnancy is associated with faster epigenetic aging is out now in PNAS! Lots of press on this one, including Time, National Geographic, and The Washington Post, among others! Find the article here. |
Jan 12, 2024 | I recently had the opportunity to speak to the interesting, eclectic, and engaged group of folks at the Foresight Institute about our work on Caloric Restriction and DNA methylation measures of Biological Aging. Click on this link if you are interested in hearing more. |
Feb 9, 2023 | My paper (co-led with Dr. Reem Waziry) is now out in Nature Aging! We studied the effect of calorie restriction on biological aging humans in a first-of-its-kind randomized controlled trial in healthy, non-obese adults. The headline finding is that two years moderate calorie restriction slowed the pace of biological aging as measured by the DunedinPACE DNA methylation clock. Click here to read more! |
selected publications
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Pregnancy is linked to faster epigenetic aging in young womenProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Apr 2024Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Effect of long-term caloric restriction on DNA methylation measures of biological aging in healthy adults from the CALERIE trialNature Aging, Feb 2023Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
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Immune cell type and DNA methylation vary with reproductive status in women: possible pathways for costs of reproductionEvolution, Medicine, and Public Health, Jan 2022