Katie Sharkey, MD, PhD, FAASM, FACP

Dr. Katie Sharkey is the inaugural Director of the Program for Sleep & Circadian Rhythms Research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist where she is a professor in the departments of psychiatry & behavioral medicine and internal medicine.

Dr. Sharkey earned her MD-PhD and completed a combined internal medicine and psychiatry residency at Rush University in Chicago, IL. Prior to joining the Wake Forest faculty, she served for 18 years at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where she held appointments in medicine and psychiatry and most recently served as Associate Dean for Gender Equity. [KS1.1]

Sharkey maintains a busy sleep medicine practice, and is a recognized expert on sleep and circadian rhythms, particularly as they relate to mood regulation and women’s health. A major focus of her research program focuses on implementing interventions that address mood, sleep, and circadian dysregulation in expectant and new parents. Sharkey also studies how perinatal sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances affect lactation and breastfeeding. Dr. Sharkey is an Associate Editor of Behavioral Sleep Medicine and Sleep Health.

A member of the AASM since 2002, Dr. Sharkey has held multiple leadership positions including serving on the Circadian Rhythms Section Steering Committee (2009-2015, Chair from 2013-2015), Vice chair of the Young Investigator Research Forum in 20215, Chair of the Young Investigator Research Forum in 2016, membership on the AASM Foundation Research Committee from 2019-2022, and current service on the AASM Foundation Sleep Research Career Program for Advancing Careers Planning Committee.