Daniel E Lieberman

About

Daniel E Lieberman is the Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on understanding why the human body looks and functions the way it does through an evolutionary perspective. He studies the evolution of human physical activity, including activities such as running, walking, digging, throwing, carrying, and sitting, and explores their relevance to health. Lieberman is also interested in the evolution of the human diet, the structure of the human head, and the broader questions of human evolution from our divergence with apes to the present. He has authored several books, including 'Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals About Food, Diet and Health' (2026), 'Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding' (2020), 'The Story of The Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease' (2013), and 'The Evolution of the Human Head' (2011). His work emphasizes the importance of an evolutionary approach to understanding human anatomy and physiology, which can provide insights into preventing illnesses and injuries. Lieberman is affiliated with the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and is based at the Peabody Museum in Cambridge, MA.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Environmental health
• Sociology
• Computer Science
• Biology
• Demography
• Physical therapy
• Gerontology
• Ecology

Selected publications

• Obesity and the risk of cardiometabolic diseases

  Nature Reviews Cardiology · 2023 · 403 citations

  PublisherDOI

• A Pandemic within the Pandemic? Physical Activity Levels Substantially Decreased in Countries Affected by COVID-19

  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2021 · 280 citations

  Governments have restricted public life during the COVID-19 pandemic, inter alia closing sports facilities and gyms. As regular exercise is essential for health, this study examined the effect of pandemic-related confinements on physical activity (PA) levels. A multinational survey was performed in 14 countries. Times spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) as well as in vigorous physical activity only (VPA) were assessed using the Nordic Physical Activity Questionnaire (short for…

  DOI

• The carbohydrate-insulin model: a physiological perspective on the obesity pandemic

  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · 2021 · 278 citations

  DOI

• WEIRD bodies: mismatch, medicine and missing diversity

  Evolution and Human Behavior · 2020 · 118 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Applying an evolutionary mismatch framework to understand disease susceptibility

  PLoS Biology · 2023-09-11 · 41 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are on the rise worldwide. Obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes are among a long list of "lifestyle" diseases that were rare throughout human history but are now common. The evolutionary mismatch hypothesis posits that humans evolved in environments that radically differ from those we currently experience; consequently, traits that were once advantageous may now be "mismatched" and disease causing. At the genetic level, this hypothesis predicts tha…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Head Stabilization in Running

  NSF · $144k · 2005–2008

• Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Effects of Forelimb Anatomy on Throwing Performance: a Biomechanical Analysis

  NSF · $17k · 2010–2012

• Doctoral Dissertation Research: Evolutionary mismatch and variation in physical activity and function

  NSF · $33k · 2023–2024

Frequent coauthors

• Nicholas B. Holowka

  University at Buffalo, State University of New York

  47 shared

• Ian J. Wallace

  University of New Mexico

  34 shared

• Aaron L. Baggish

  31 shared

• Franck Guy

  25 shared

• David Pilbeam

  Harvard University

  22 shared

• Steven Worthington

  Quantitative BioSciences

  19 shared

• Robert Ojiambo

  University of Global Health Equity

  18 shared

• Patrick Vignaud

  Université de Poitiers

  17 shared

Education

• B.A., Human Biology

  Yale University

  1982

• M.A., Human Biology

  University of California, Berkeley

  1984

• Ph.D., Human Biology

  University of California, Berkeley

  1987

Similar researchers at Harvard University

• David Reichh-187
• Richard W. Wranghamh-127
• Joseph Henrichh-101