Biography
Dr. Elbel is the founding director of NYU Langone’s Comprehensive Program on Obesity, spearheading an initiative designed to determine causes of obesity and develop new treatment and prevention strategies. This institution-wide initiative features the DataBridge, an infrastructure for integrating data from population health, clinical, and basic science research using big-data analytics.
Dr. Elbel uses behavioral economics to investigate how individuals make decisions about their health, in particular how public policy and the environment affects obesity and related chronic disease. Using statistical and econometric methods and diverse data sources, including surveys, sales data, and administrative data, he seeks to inform policy on obesity prevention.
He has investigated the role of the food environment and the built environment, including neighborhoods, on childhood obesity.