David Allison


David Allison profile picture

Dean
Distinguished Professor
Provost Professor

Email: allison@iu.edu
Phone: 812-855-1250
Address: 1025 E. 7th St.
Department: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
ORCID - 0000-0003-3566-9399

Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York 1990
Post-Doctoral Fellow in Departments of Pediatrics and Behavioral Psychology Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine & The Kennedy Institute 1990-91

David B. Allison received his Ph.D. from Hofstra University in 1990. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a second post-doctoral fellowship at the NIH-funded New York Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital Center. He was a research scientist at the NY Obesity Research Center and Associate Professor of Medical Psychology in Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons until 2001. He became Dean and Provost Professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington in 2017. Prior he was Distinguished Professor, Quetelet Endowed Professor, and Director of the NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He has authored more than 660 scientific publications and received many awards, including the 2002 Lilly Scientific Achievement Award from The Obesity Society (TOS)[1]; the 2002 Andre Mayer Award from the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO); the National Science Foundation — administered 2006 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM)[2]; and the 2018 Harry V. Roberts Statistical Advocate of the Year Award from the American Statistical Association[3]. In 2009, he was awarded the Centrum Award from the American Society of Nutrition (ASN)[4] and the TOPS research achievement award from the Obesity Society. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) in 2007, the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2008, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2009, the NY Academy of Medicine in 2014, the Gerontological Society of America in 2014[7], the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research in 2017, and inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars in 2013[8]. In 2012, he received an NIH Director's Transformative Research Award entitled "Energetics, Disparities, & Lifespan: A unified hypothesis."[9]. In 2022, he was selected as the 2022 Hooker Distinguished visiting Professor for the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University. He was named Sigma Xi Scientific Honor Society Distinguished Lecturer for 2022-2024[11]. He was also recognized as an Expertscape Expert in both Weight Loss and Publishing in 2022.

Dean Allison has provided regular service to the National Academies, including the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine (of which he has been an elected member of since 2012). Ongoing service includes: serving as Co-chair (with Drs. Marcia McNutt and France Cordova) of the National Academy of Sciences' Strategic Council on Research Excellence, Integrity and Trust, an new initiative to advance collectively the integrity, ethics, resilience, and effectiveness of the research enterprise (May 2021-present), member of Committee on Addressing Inaccurate and Misleading Information about Biological threats through Scientific Collaboration and Communication (March 2021-present), and member of the National Academy of Medicine's Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Program Advisory Committee (2021-2023).

He has contributed to many editorial boards and is currently an associate editor, statistical editor, or board member for Obesity, International Journal of Obesity, Nutrition Today, Obesity Reviews, Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD), Advances in Nutrition and Food Technology, Experimental Gerontology, AGE, Evidence-Based Preventive Medicine, and American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Dr. Allison is also proud to be the founding Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Genetics.

His research interests include obesity and nutrition, quantitative genetics, clinical trials, statistical and research methodology, and research rigor and integrity.

"Dr. Allison coined "It's about knowing" as the tagline for the School of Public Health Indiana University Bloomington for which serves as Dean, and the extended moto "It's about knowing. Because conjecture is good, but knowing is better." He conceived a book by the title "It's About Knowing" written principally by Susan Brackney and co-authored by Dr. Allison. More information about the book is available here."

Recent News

Recent other Honors

Press, Press Releases, and Special Announcements (selected)

  1. Dean David B. Allison: Podcast Episode 240: Obesity Research: Rigor, Reproducibility & Truthful Communication
  2. INTERVIEW: David Allison(June 7, 2022)
  3. The overlooked variable in animal studies: why diet makes a difference(May 23, 2022)
  4. Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean David Allison Featured on Popular Podcast "The Drive"(March 1, 2022)
  5. Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean David Allison Named Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor(January 26, 2022)
  6. Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean David Allison Named Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer (January 12, 2022)
  7. Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean David Allison Selected for 2021 Friends of Albert (Mickey) Stunkard Lifetime Achievement Award (October 22, 2021) (January 12, 2022)
  8. Breakfast really doesn't have much to do with controlling your weight(Nov 20, 2021)
  9. Dean David B. Allison featured as special guest on the latest episode of "Innovators" from Harris Search Associates. (October 19, 2021)
  10. Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean to Participate in Webinar: "Public Health in the Time of COVID-19" (September 20, 2021)
  11. Looking through the lens of good science, by Professor David Allison MAE(September 5, 2021)
  12. Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Researchers Co-author Mayo Clinic COVID-19 Drug Study (June 28, 2021)
  13. Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean David B. Allison Appointed to National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee (April 22, 2021)
  14. Dean David B. Allison and co-authors' paper highlighted in The New York Times. (January 20, 2020)
  15. Dean David Allison co-author of new report. "New Report Examines Reproducibility and Replicability in Science, Recommends Ways to Improve Transparency and Rigor in Research". (The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, May 7, 2019)
  16. Recent study reveals stress leads to early death in mice (WISH-TV Channel 8, July 24, 2018)
  17. Dean David B. Allison invited to join the Academy of Europe, Academia Europea (IU School of Public Health, September 8, 2017)
  18. IU School of Public Health-Bloomington names new dean: David B. Allison (IU News, June 16, 2017)
  19. Should we treat obesity like a contagious disease? (Science, AAAS, February 19, 2017)
  20. David Allison and colleagues' paper tops list of best comment pieces for 2016 by Nature editors (School of Health Professions, December 28, 2016 )
  21. David Allison to deliver Corcoran Lecture at IU School of Medicine.(UAB School of Health Professions, October 17, 2016)
  22. UAB professor recognized for achievements in nutrition research. (UAB News, August 19, 2016)
  23. We're So Confused: The Problems With Food and Exercise Studies. (The New York Times, August. 11, 2016)
  24. David Allison on Problems in Obesity, Nutrition Research. (The Downey Obesity Report, July 13, 2016)
  25. Study shows that black men with more West African genes have lower risk of obesity. (AAAS, June 1, 2016)
  26. Study shows that black men with more West African genes have lower risk of obesity (UAB News, June 1, 2016)
  27. Could a Few Extra Pounds Help You Live Longer? (Scientific American, May 10, 2016)
  28. Common scientific and statistical errors in obesity research. (SOPH, March 30, 2016)
  29. Ten major errors in obesity research discussed (UAB News, March 30, 2016)
  30. Want to correct the scientific literature? Good luck. (Retraction Watch, February 3, 2016)
  31. Reproducibility: A tragedy of errors (Nature, February 3, 2016)

Download CV

Mehta T, Pajewski NM, Keith SW, Fontaine K, Allison DB. (2016). Role of a plausible nuisance contributor in the declining obesity-mortality risks over time. Experimental Gerontology, Dec 15;86:14-21. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2016.09.015.

Ejima K, Li P, Smith DL, Nagy TR, Kadish I, van Groen T, Dawson JA, Yang Y, Patki A, & Allison DB (2016) Observational Research Rigor Alone Does Not Justify Causal Inference. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, Dec;46(12):985-993. doi: 10.1111/eci.12681.

Ro, J., Pak, G., Malec, P. A., Lyu, Y., Allison, D. B., Kennedy, R. T., & Pletcher, S. D. (2016). Serotonin signaling mediates protein valuation and aging. eLife 2016;5:e16843.

Fernández, J. R., Bohan Brown, M., López-Alarcón, M., Dawson, J. A., Guo, F., Redden, D. T., and Allison, D. B. (2016) Changes in pediatric waist circumference percentiles despite reported pediatric weight stabilization in the United States. Pediatric Obesity, doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12150.

Cardel MI, Johnson SL, Beck J, Dhurandhar E, Keita AD, Tomczik AC, Pavela G, Huo T, Janicke DM, Muller K, Piff PK, Peters JC, Hill JO, Allison DB (2016). The effects of experimentally manipulated social status on acute eating behavior: A randomized, crossover pilot study. Physiology & Behavior, 162, 93–101. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938416301603

Williams CM, McCue MD, Sunny NE, Andre Szejner-Sigal, A., Morgan TJ, Allison DB & Hahn DA. (2016). Cold adaptation increases rates of nutrient flow and metabolic plasticity during cold exposure in Drosophila melanogaster. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283 20161317. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1317. Published 7 September 2016.

Arifuzzman AKM, Haider MR, & Allison DB (2016). A low-power thermal-based sensor system for low air flow detection. Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing, Volume 89, Issue 2, pp 425–436. DOI 10.1007/s10470-016-0848-4. PMCID: PMC5397122.

Allison, D. B., Brown, A. W., George, B. J., & Kaiser, K. A. (2016). A tragedy of errors: Mistakes in peer-reviewed papers are easy to find but hard to fix. [Commentary]. Nature, 530, 27-29.

Skinner, A. C., Goldsby, T. U., & Allison, D. B. (2016). Regression to the Mean: A Commonly Overlooked and Misunderstood Factor Leading to Unjustified Conclusions in Pediatric Obesity Research. Childhood Obesity, Apr;12(2):155-8. doi: 10.1089/chi.2015.0222.

Dawson, J. A., Kaiser, K. A., Affuso, O., Cutter, G., & Allison, D. B. (2016). Rigorous control conditions diminish treatment effects in weight loss randomized controlled trials. International Journal of Obesity, Jun;40(6):895-8. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2015.212.

George, B. J., Beasley, T. M., Brown, A. W., Dawson, J., Dimova, R., Divers, J., Goldsby, T. U., Heo, M., Kaiser, K. A., Keith, S., Kim, M. Y., Li, P., Mehta, T., Oakes, J. M., Skinner, A., Stuart, E., & Allison, D. B. (2016). Common scientific and statistical errors in obesity research. Obesity, Apr;24(4):781-90. doi: 10.1002/oby.21449.

George, B., J., Li, P. Lieberman, H. R., Pavela, G., Brown, A. W., Fontaine, K. R., Jeansonne, M. M., Dutton, G. R., Idigo, A. J., Parman, M. A., Rubin, D. B., & Allison, D. B. (in press). Randomization to Randomization Probability: Estimating Treatment Effects Under Actual Conditions of Use. Psychological Methods. Raw data posted at: https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/100640

Pavela, G., Lewis, D. W., Dawson, J. A., Cardel, M., & Allison, D. B. (2017). Social Status and Energy Intake: A Randomized Controlled Experiment. Clinical Obesity, doi:10.1111/cob.12198.

Mattison, J. A., Colman, R. J., Beasley, T. M., Allison, D. B., Kemnitz, J. W., Roth, G. S., Ingram, D. K., Weindruch, R., de Cabo, R., & Anderson, R. M. (2017). Caloric restriction improves health and survival of rhesus monkeys. Nature Communications, Jan 17;8:14063. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14063.

Richardson, M. B. Williams, M. S., Fontaine, K. R., & Allison, D. B. (2017). The development of scientific evidence for health policies for obesity: why and how? International Journal of Obesity, Jun;41(6):840-848. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2017.71.

Allison DB, Shiffrin RM, Stodden V. (2018). Reproducibility of research: Issues and proposed remedies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Mar 13;115(11):2561-2562. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1802324115. Epub 2018 Mar 12.

Brown AW, Kaiser KA, Allison DB. (2018). Issues with data and analyses: Errors, underlying themes, and potential solutions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Mar 13;115(11):2563-2570. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1708279115.

Mehta T, Allison DB. (2018). How Much Variation in Outcomes Is Too Much in a Center of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery? JAMA. May 8;319(18):1932-1933. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.3801.

Razzoli M, Nyuyki-Dufe K, Gurney A, Erickson C, McCallum J, Spielman N, Marzullo M, Patricelli J, Kurata M, Pope EA, Touma C, Palme R, Largaespada DA, Allison DB, Bartolomucci A. (2018). Social stress shortens lifespan in mice. Aging Cell. May 28:e12778. doi: 10.1111/acel.12778.

Speakman JR, Loos RJF, O'Rahilly S, Hirschhorn JN, Allison DB. (2018). GWAS for BMI: a treasure trove of fundamental insights into the genetic basis of obesity. Int J Obes (Lond). Aug;42(8):1524-1531. doi: 10.1038/s41366-018-0147-5. Epub 2018 Jul 6.

Mao K, Quipildor GF, Tabrizian T, Novaj A, Guan F, Walters RO, Delahaye F, Hubbard GB, Ikeno Y, Ejima K, Li P, Allison DB, Salimi-Moosavi H, Beltran PJ, Cohen P, Barzilai N, Huffman DM. (2018). Late-life targeting of the IGF-1 receptor improves healthspan and lifespan in female mice. Nat Commun. Jun 19;9(1):2394. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04805-5.

Xu M, Pirtskhalava T, Farr JN, Weigand BM, Palmer AK, Weivoda MM, Inman CL, Ogrodnik MB, Hachfeld CM, Fraser DG, Onken JL, Johnson KO, Verzosa GC, Langhi LGP, Weigl M, Giorgadze N, LeBrasseur NK, Miller JD, Jurk D, Singh RJ, Allison DB, Ejima K, Hubbard GB, Ikeno Y, Cubro H, Garovic VD, Hou X, Weroha SJ, Robbins PD, Niedernhofer LJ, Khosla S, Tchkonia T, Kirkland JL. (2018). Senolytics improve physical function and increase lifespan in old age. Nat Med. Aug;24(8):1246-1256. doi: 10.1038/s41591-018-0092-9. Epub 2018 Jul 9.

Heo M, Nair SR, Wylie-Rosett J, Faith MS, Pietrobelli A, Glassman NR, Martin SN, Dickinson S, Allison DB. (2018). Trial Characteristics and Appropriateness of Statistical Methods Applied for Design and Analysis of Randomized School-Based Studies Addressing Weight-Related Issues: A Literature Review. J Obes. Jun 25;2018:8767315. doi: 10.1155/2018/8767315. eCollection 2018. Review.

Davis RAH, Deemer SE, Bergeron JM, Little JT, Warren JL, Fisher G, Smith DL Jr, Fontaine KR, Dickinson SL, Allison DB, Plaisance EP. (2018). Dietary R, S-1,3-butanediol diacetoacetate reduces body weight and adiposity in obese mice fed a high-fat diet. FASEB J. Oct 10:fj201800821RR. doi: 10.1096/fj.201800821RR.

Rowland NE, Robertson KL, Minaya D, Minervini V, Cervantez M, Kaiser KA, Allison DB. (2018). Effect of food predictability on lifespan in male mice. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. Oct 5. doi: 10.1093/gerona/gly231.