Dr. Markel earned his medical degree from Columbia Medical School where he graduated with honors and was awarded the William Watson prize for outstanding student in Pediatrics. He then completed his residency at Columbia University’s Babies and Children’s Hospital serving as Chief Resident in Pediatrics. Before medical school, Dr. Markel conducted nutrition and obesity research at Rockefeller University under the mentorship of pioneers Drs. Jules Hirsch and Rudy Leibel. At Penn State University, Dr. Markel studied Microbiology and, in his free time, performed in theater and modern dance.

Dr. Markel grew up not far from Pittsburgh, in Aliquippa, PA with five brothers and sisters. He is now a father to twin boys and in his free time he enjoys attending Broadway shows, listening to Ella Fitzgerald, and cooking up his famous salted caramels.