The Ken & Ruth Davee - Department of Neurology at Northwestern University

Phyllis Zee Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology, Neurobiology & Physiology
Director, Sleep Disorders Program

710 N. Lake Shore Drive Suite 520
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 908-8549

Background

Fellowship	Circadian and Sleep Neuroscience at Northwestern University Sleep Medicine at University of Chicago
Residency	Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Internship	Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Medical Degree

Clinical
Interests

Sleep Medicine, Circadian Rhythm Disorders, Geriatrics

Research Interests

Circadian biology, aging and sleep, mechanisms linking sleep and adiposity, cardiovascular and immune function, sleep loss and neurocognitive performance.

Biography

Phyllis C. Zee, MD is professor of Neurology, Neurobiology, and Physiology, and Director of the Sleep Disorders Center and the ACGME accredited sleep medicine fellowship training program. She is also the Associate Director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology.

Dr. Zee earned a PhD in physiology and biophysics and an MD from the Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, Illinois. As an NIH postdoctoral fellow, she conducted basic science studies on the effects of age on circadian rhythms and sleep. Dr. Zee’s career focus has been to translate basic and clinical science in sleep and circadian biology to the practice of neurology and sleep medicine. Dr. Zee’s research has focused on the effects of age on sleep and circadian rhythms, genetic regulation of circadian sleep disorders, and behavioral interventions to improve sleep and performance. Current NIH sponsored research projects include studies to examine the ability of exercise to improve sleep and health in older people with insomnia, phenotypic characterization and genetic analysis of circadian rhythm sleep disorders, relationship between sleep, metabolic and cardiovascular risk and the effects of age on the neural response to sleep loss.

Dr. Zee is also very active on committees and panels both locally and nationally, and has been on Editorial Boards of several journals and is currently an Associate Editor for the journal SLEEP. She is on the Board of Directors of the Sleep Research Society, the National Sleep Foundation and is the Chair of the NIH Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board.

Selected
Publications

Dawson D, Zee P. Work hours and reducing fatigue-related risk: good research vs good policy. JAMA. Sep 7;294 (9):1104-6, 2005.
Hansen M, Schiff A, Janssen I, Zee PC, Dubocovich ML. The impact of school daily schedule on adolescent sleep. Pediatrics 115(6):1555-61, 2005.
Benloucif S, Green K, L'hermite-Baleriaux M, Weintraub S, Wolfe LF, Zee PC. Responsiveness of the aging circadian clock to light. Neurobiol Aging, 2005.
Mundey K, Benloucif S, Harsanyi K, Dubocovich ML, Zee PC. Phase-dependent treatment of delayed sleep phase syndrome with melatonin. Sleep 28(10):1271-8, 2005.
Reid KJ, Martinovich Z, Finkel S, Statsinger J, Golden R, Harter K, Zee PC. Sleep: A Marker of Physical and Mental Health in the Elderly. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, Oct;14(10):860-866, 2006.
Zee PC and Turek FW. Sleep and health: Everywhere and in both directions. Arch Intern Med. Sep 18;166(16):1686-8, 2006.
Barion A, Zee PC. A clinical approach to circadian rhythm sleep disorders.
Sleep Med. 2007 Sep;8(6):566-77.
Yu Y, Lu BS, Wang B, Wang H, Yang J, Li Z, Wang L, Liu X, Tang G, Xing H,
Xu X, Zee PC, Wang X. Short sleep duration and adiposity in Chinese adolescents. Sleep. 2007 (In Press)