Faculty

Stephen F Smagula, PhD

Stephen F Smagula, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Epidemiology

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email

Education & Training

PhD
Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health
MS
Neuroscience and Education, Columbia University, Graduate School of Education, Health & Psychology
Translational Research Training in Sleep Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Late-Life Mood Disorders Research, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Professional Affiliations

Member, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
Member, Gerontological Society of America

Selected Honors & Awards

Alumni Award for Early Career Excellence, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
Barry Lebowitz Early Career Scientist Award, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry

Research Interests

Depression and suicide prevention; Rest-activity rhythms and health; Wearable/accelerometer-guided behavioral medicine
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Lau SCL, Zhang G, Rueschman M, Li X, Irwin MR, Krafty RT, McCall WV, Skidmore E, Patel SR, Redline S, Smagula SF. Sleep-wake behavioral characteristics associated with depression symptoms: findings from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Sleep. 2024 Apr 12;47(4):zsae045. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsae045. PMID: 38394355; PMCID: PMC11009024.
  2. Smagula SF, Zhang G, Gujral S, Covassin N, Li J, Taylor WD, Reynolds CF 3rd, Krafty RT. Association of 24-Hour activity pattern phenotypes with depression symptoms and cognitive performance in aging. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022 Oct 1;79(10):1023-1031. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.2573. PMID: 36044201; PMCID: PMC9434485.
  3. Smagula SF, Gasperetti CE, Buysse DJ, Irwin MR, Krafty RT, Lim SE, Reynolds CF 3rd, McCall WV, Harvey AG. Efficacy of the Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction for Depression Symptoms and Sleep-Wake Disruption in Older and Younger Adults: Secondary Age-Stratified Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2024 Apr;32(4):478-488. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2023.11.003. Epub 2023 Nov 11. PMID: 38040569; PMCID: PMC10950538.
  4. Smagula SF, Freedland KE, Steinmeyer BC, Wallace MJ, Carney RM, Rich MW. Moderators of response to cognitive behavior therapy for major depression in patients with heart failure. Psychosom Med. 2019 Jul/Aug;81(6):506-512. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000712.
  5. Smagula SF, Karim HT, Ibrahim TS, Krafty RT, Stahl ST, Rodakowski J, Reynolds CF, Hall MH, Aizenstein HJ. Resting-state function connectivity associated with being a \morning-type\" dementia caregiver and having lower depression symptom severity. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2021 Jun 14;76(6):1071-1076. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbaa115. PMID: 32750139; PMCID: PMC8200349."

Education Interests

Evidence-based medicine; Actigraphy and rest-activity rhythms; Epidemiological methods/causal inference

Psychiatry Residents Present Robust Research at the 7th Annual Psychiatry Research Pathway Symposium

PRP Residents and Mentors

The Psychiatry Research Pathway (PRP) Symposium provides UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital residents engaged in research the opportunity to present their work to fellow residents, faculty mentors, T32 postdoctoral research program directors, and interested members of our academic community. This year, the PRP Symposium began with a panel discussion focused on interventional psychiatry, moderated by Katherine Lyman...

Helping the Aging Brain: The 2023 Behavioral Health & Aging Conference

UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital Main Entrance

The October 2023 Behavioral Health and Aging Conference focused on two broad themes, sleep and cognitive impairment. Invited speakers, who focused on the association between geriatric mental health and sleep, discussed the link between sleep and both emotional and cognitive health in later life, behavioral approaches to improving sleep, and the use of hypnotic medications. Speakers addressing age and cognition...

Molecular Psychiatry: Shared and Distinct Abnormalities in Sleep-Wake Patterns and Their Relationship with the Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder Patients

Dr, Fabio Ferrarelli

Sleep and rest-activity-rhythm abnormalities are commonly reported in schizophrenia spectrum disorder patients. However, an in-depth characterization of sleep and rest-activity-rhythm alterations in schizophrenia spectrum disorder, including patients in different treatment settings, and the relationship between these alterations and schizophrenia spectrum disorder clinical features, is lacking. Characterization of...

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Promotes Stephen Smagula, PhD, to Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Stephen Smagula

We are delighted to announce that Stephen Smagula, PhD, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Smagula received his PhD in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. He then joined the Department of Psychiatry as a postdoctoral scholar in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded T32 training program in...

The Association of 24-Hour Activity Pattern Phenotypes With Depression Symptoms and Cognitive Performance in Aging

Smagula et al. JAMA Psychiatry 2022

Disruption to a predictable 24-hour activity pattern, in which humans are active during the day and rest at night, is not an inevitable consequence of aging. Instead, such disruption in older adults is linked with diseases such as depression and dementia. Loss of robust activity and rest patterns throughout the day and night may be a contributor to, marker of, and/or consequence of underlying disease. To improve...