Tianyi Huang, D.Sc.

The Sleep Health and Aging-Related Phenotypes (SHARP) Unit is dedicated to investigating how sleep and circadian rhythms influence physical, mental, and cognitive health as people age, with the goal of promoting sleep and circadian health for healthy aging at the population level. Our research integrates traditional epidemiologic methods with multi-omics, wearable technology, and causal inference to elucidate the mechanisms linking sleep and circadian health with aging-related conditions, such as cognitive decline, dementia, cardiometabolic disorders, cancer, and frailty. Furthermore, we focus on identifying upstream risk factors for sleep and circadian health, including social, environmental, and early life factors. We are also interested in exploring how disparities in sleep health may contribute to broader health disparities in aging populations. Our work is built upon several large-scale cohort studies including the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Life Span (HANDLS), the UK Biobank, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), and the Nurses’ Health Studies.

Dr. Tianyi Huang received his B.S. in Biological Science from Peking University, Beijing, China, in 2009. He subsequently earned his M.S. in Epidemiology from University of California, Los Angeles, in 2011, followed by Sc.D. in Epidemiology from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts in 2015. He completed postdoctoral training at the Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he was later promoted to Instructor in Medicine in 2016. Before joining NIA/NIH, Dr. Huang was Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Huang's research has been recognized by multiple awards, including American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, K01 Research Scientist Career Development Award, and the Trudy Bush Fellowship Award for Cardiovascular Disease Research in Women's Health. In May 2024, Dr. Huang joined Laboratory of Epidemiology & Population Sciences at NIA as a Tenure-Track Investigator and serves as head of the SHARP Unit.