Division of Sleep Medicine & Chronobiology

The Montefiore Einstein Division of Sleep Medicine and Chronobiology conducts innovative, leading-edge research focusing on sleep disorders that impact a patient’s quality of life, longevity and morbidity. Over the past 60 years, our investigators have been at the forefront of research into the mechanisms involved in the sleep-wake transition and the circadian aspects of the sleep cycle.

The Montefiore Einstein Division of Sleep Medicine and Chronobiology is a resource for the investigation of pharmacologic treatments of disorders such as narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia and residual sleepiness of obstructive sleep apnea. In addition, we conduct extensive, innovative research into neurological disorders that affect sleep-wake mechanisms, including REM sleep behavior disorders that can progress to Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies, as well as other neurological disorders that affect sleep quality and produce sleep-related breathing disorders.

The primary focus of the Division of Sleep Medicine and Chronobiology is the study of medications which affect alertness by acting on various neurotransmitter systems that stimulate wakefulness. Studies of medications that affect gamma-hydroxybutyrate, and monoamines—such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and histamine—are evaluated in patients with central disorders of hypersomnia, such as narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia.