Alberto Ramos
Lab Director, MD, MSPH, FAASM, FAAN
I am Professor of Clinical Neurology and Research Director of the sleep disorders program at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. As a McKnight Institute for Brain Research collaborator, I focus on the intersection between sleep disorders, cerebrovascular disease, and neurocognitive aging in population-based studies. As an investigator, I have also been involved with the Northern Manhattan Study and the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) since 2010. Further, I was the Miami site-PI for the ancillary sleep study, Sueño (R01HL098297)-Sleep as a Risk Factor for Disease in HCHS/SOL. Sueño aimed to determine the prevalence of abnormal sleep patterns in 2,200 Latinos using actigraphy. I was the PI for an HCHS/SOL ancillary study that evaluated sleep apnea, actigraphic sleep duration with impaired cerebral hemodynamics using transcranial Doppler ultrasound in 98 participants at the Miami field site. The study was supported by a mentored research award from the Clinical Translational Research Institute at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL.
This work led to an R01 (R01AG067568), titled Sleep in Neurocognitive Aging and Alzheimer’s Research (www.sanarbrain.com), which is a five-year, $13 million grant from the National Institutes of Aging to Study the impact of obstructive sleep apnea and nocturnal blood pressure on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Hispanic/Latino adults.
I mentor and train physician scientists. I am a Fellow of the C-Change Institute on Leadership and Mentorship from Brandeis University. I was the Chair of the Young Investigator Research Forum for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation (AASMF). I am also the Founding Chair of the yearlong Sleep Research Fellowship Committee (SOAR program) of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation. I am part of the Editorial board for CHEST of the American College of Chest Physicians and of Brain and Life Magazine for the American Academy of Neurology. In 2021, I was invited to participate in the Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board for the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
I am a Fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. I am also board certified in Neurology and Sleep Medicine. I evaluate and treat patients with sleep disorders and performs intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring.
Lab Investigators
Susan Redline
Professor, MD, MPH
Susan Redline, MD, MPH, is the Peter C. Farrell Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Epidemiology at TH Chan Harvard School of Public Health. She directs Programs in Sleep and Cardiovascular Medicine and Sleep Medicine Epidemiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Redline’s research includes epidemiological studies and clinical trials designed to 1) elucidate the etiologies of sleep disorders, including the role of genetic and early life developmental factors; and 2) understand the cardiovascular and other health outcomes of sleep disorders and the role of sleep interventions in improving health. She leads the Sleep Reading Center for a number of major NIH multicenter studies; has led large cohort studies; and leads several large randomized controlled trials. She founded and co-directs the National Sleep Research Resource, an international sleep data sharing repository. She has published over 600 peer-reviewed articles and has served the sleep research community in a number of capacities, including as a member of the Boards of Directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, the NIH's Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research, and Deputy Editor for the journal Sleep.
Murray A. Mittleman
Professor, MD
Dr. Mittleman is a physician and epidemiologist with particular expertise in designing and analyzing clinical and epidemiologic research studies. He is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health where he is the Director and Chair of the Master of Public Health program. He also serves as the Director of the Cardiovascular Epidemiologic Research Unit based jointly at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and HSPH. Dr. Mittleman practices preventive cardiology and directs the ambulatory blood pressure monitoring program at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) affiliated with Harvard Medical School.
Hector M. González
Professor, PhD
Hector M. González, PhD, is a Professor of Neurosciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. González is a population neuroscientist and the Principal Investigator of the Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging (SOL-INCA), which is the largest study of Latino cognitive aging, impairment and disorders among diverse Latinos.
Charles S. DeCarli
Professor, MD
Charles DeCarli, MD, is Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the University of California in Davis, California and recipient of the Victor and Genevieve Orsi Chair in Alzheimer’s Research. He is the Director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center, a United States National Institutes of Health funded Alzheimer’s research center. He is also Director of the Imaging of Dementia and Aging (IDeA) laboratory. His research focuses on using advanced structural and functional brain imaging to study normal aging, mild cognitive impairment and dementia and the role of genetics, diversity, cerebrovascular and Alzheimer’s disease on these processes. He is a recipient of the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine—Imaging of the Aging Brain in recognition of his work. Dr. DeCarli is currently funded as principal, or co-principal investigator on 8 National Institute of Aging or National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke grants and is the principal investigator of the Neuroscience of Cognitive Aging T32 training grant.
Wassim Tarraf
Associate Professor, PhD
Wassim Tarraf, PhD is Associate Professor of Gerontology and Healthcare Sciences at Wayne State University. He leads the biostatistical work for several NIA funded ancillary studies focused on cognitive aging and ADRD risk factors among Latinos, including SANAR. Dr. Tarraf, is also the Analysis Core co-leader for the NIA-funded Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research (MCUAAR) and a faculty affiliate with the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer's Disease (MCCFAD).
Associate Professor, PhD
Azizi Seixas, PhD is Associate Professor Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Media and Innovation Laboratory (The MIL) and Associate Director of the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences (TSCS) at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. With a background in population health and psychiatry, Dr. Seixas’ work as a biomedical researcher, scientist, and health-tech innovator sits at the intersection of health behaviors, technology, and lifestyle and reflects his mission to create better healthcare solutions for all.
Girardin Jean-Louis
Professor, PhD
Girardin Jean-Louis, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami. He is the Director of the Center on Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences and the PRIDE Institute on Behavioral Medicine and Sleep Disorders Research. He has served on the NIH Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board, the Cancer, Heart, and Sleep Epidemiology (CHSE-B) study section, the National Advisory Council for National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the SRS Board of Directors, and several NIH Special Emphasis Panels/ Scientific Review Groups. Dr. Jean-Louis has been involved in several NIH-funded studies, which have led to over 400 publications primarily in sleep/circadian sciences and cardiometabolic and brain injury. His current research addresses the mechanisms of sleep deficiency and its associations with biomarkers of cardiovascular disease, inflammation, and brain injury, delineating the contribution of structural racism, epigenetics, and ancestry.
Lab Members
Get to Know Us
Barbara Junco, MSc, MSCTI
Project Manager
Barbara Junco, MSc, MSCTI is the Project Manager for SANAR at the University of Miami coordinating center. Barbara has over 14 years of experience in investigator initiated and pharmaceutical research. She has a background as a Clinical Research Monitor for multiple phase 1-3 FDA regulated clinical trials in addition to several years as a Research Coordinator, Psychometrician and Clinical Trials Assistant. Barbara has an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology and recently completed a second MS in Clinical and Translational Research Investigation. Her research interests include the effect of sleep disorders on cognition, and identification and reduction of health disparities in minorities.