He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). His research focuses on the role of early childhood health in human capital development. Almond studied the health effects of air pollution in China as a Fulbright scholar. He received his BA from Carleton College in Minnesota and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to Columbia, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Aging Research at the NBER in Cambridge, MA.