Michele Okun, PhD

Michele L. Okun, PhD, FSBSM, FAMBR, is a professor of research at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and director of the Sleep and Biobehavioral Health Research Laboratory. She has over 25 years of experience and is one of the leading researchers on sleep and mental health during the perinatal period.

Dr. Okun’s work investigates how sleep disturbances, particularly insomnia, augment risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes via neuro-immune and neuro-endocrine pathways. Dr. Okun’s work has shown that poor sleep quality and insomnia significantly increase the risk for postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). The overarching goal of her research program is elucidating the role that poor sleep health has upon the risk of PMADs and the biological mediators of this relationship. She is evaluating the degree to which a smart bassinet improves infant and maternal sleep thereby mitigating PMADs. Dr. Okun’s research portfolio also includes assessing whether digital CBT-I can mitigate mood symptoms and sleep in adolescents as well as reduce cardiometabolic risk among menopausal women.

Dr. Okun is funded by NIH and DoD, has authored over 80 journal articles, and has served as a peer reviewer for over three dozen journals as well as various study sections.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Michele Okun has an employment relationship with the University of Colorado. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Michele Okum is a member of the American Psychosomatic Society and the Sleep Research Society.