Julio Fernandez-Mendoza

1

Article

0

Comments
  • Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Neuroscience, and Public Health Sciences, Penn State

Dr. Fernandez-Mendoza is a scientist-clinician who devotes his time to sleep research and clinical care at Penn State Health Sleep Research & Treatment Center. He is the Edward O. Bixler Professor in Psychiatry and holds joint appointments in Neuroscience and Public Health Sciences.

His research focuses on the relationship between disturbed, insufficient and misaligned sleep with cardiometabolic, neurocognitive and psychopathologic morbidity and mortality, a relationship that he is examining in population-based cohorts of young children, adolescents and adults. Specific sleep phenotypes of focus are insomnia, short sleep, sleep disordered breathing and circadian misalignment. He also has an interest on testing the relative efficacy and phenotype-matching of behavioral vs. pharmacological sleep therapies.

His research has been funded by the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute (NHLBI), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), American Heart Association (AHA) and Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

He is also a licensed psychologist board certified in behavioral sleep medicine. His patient population expands the whole spectrum of sleep disorders, from sleeplessness to nightmares and excessive sleepiness, but has a special focus on insomnia disorder and its first-line, guideline-recommended therapy: cognitive behavioral treatment of insomnia (CBT-I). He provides care both in English and Spanish.

Experience

  • 2023–present
    Professor, Penn State College of Medicine
  • 2017–2023
    Associate professor, Penn State College of Medicine
  • 2014–2017
    Assistant professor, Penn State College of Medicine
  • 2010–2014
    Postdoctoral fellow, Penn State College of Medicine

Education

  • 2018 
    Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, DBSM
  • 2014 
    American Board of Sleep Medicine , CBSM
  • 2010 
    Universidad Complutense de Madrid, PhD
  • 2007 
    Universidad Pablo de Olavide, MS
  • 2005 
    Universidad Complutense de Madrid, MS
  • 2003 
    Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Licenciado

Grants and Contracts

  • 2024
    Developmental Trajectories of Sleep EEG Biomarkers and Risk of Psychopathology Through Young Adulthood
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    National Institute of Mental Health
  • 2023
    1/2 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Trazodone Effects on Sleep and Blood Pressure in Insomnia Phenotypes Based on Objective Sleep Duration: A Sequential Cohort/Randomized Controlled Trial
    Role:
    Multiple Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  • 2020
    Comparative Effectiveness of Zolpidem and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Rural Adults (COZi-R)
    Role:
    Site Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
  • 2019
    Sleep Cortical Dynamics and Neurobehavioral Risk in Children and Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    National Institute of Mental Health
  • 2018
    The Penn State Child Sleep Cohort: Cardiometabolic and Neurocognitive Risk in Young Adulthood
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  • 2014
    Interplay of Short Sleep Duration and Cognitive Impairment on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke Mortality
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    American Heart Association

Professional Memberships

  • Sleep Research Society
  • American Academy of Sleep Medicine
  • European Sleep Research Society
  • Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine
  • American Heart Association
  • American Psychological Association

Honours

Endowed Professor

Contact Julio for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision