News

Martica Hall, PhD Promoted to Professor of Psychiatry

Congratulations to Martica Hall, PhD on her promotion to Professor of Psychiatry by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Dr. Hall was originally recruited by the Department in 1998 after completing postdoctoral training in clinical sleep medicine research at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC).  She holds secondary appointments in Psychology and Clinical and Translational Science at Pitt, and has served as the co-director of the Neuroscience Clinical and Translational Research Center since 2003.  Dr. Hall also serves as the associate director of the Data Management and Statistics Core within the Department?s Sleep and Chronobiology Center.

An internationally renowned scientist, Dr. Hall?s research has successfully brought together the once disparate fields of behavioral medicine and sleep medicine. Over the course of her career she has developed a systematic and evolving program of research dedicated to understanding how stress affects sleep and how sleep, in turn, affects health and functioning including immune function, metabolism and cardiovascular health. She has used a variety of study designs ranging from experimental manipulations to randomized clinical trials and long-term longitudinal follow-ups. She has also introduced new methods and analytic strategies that have helped to shape not only her own work, but the field itself. The development, optimization and use of wrist actigraphy, heart rate variability and in-home polysomnography to reliably study nocturnal behavior and physiology in participants? home environments are just a few examples of her innovative methods. 

Findings from Dr. Hall?s first federally funded grant, a career development award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), served as the foundation for her first R01 grant in 2001 from the National Institute of Aging (NIA) ? the Study of Women?s Health across the Nation (SWAN) Ancillary Sleep Study.  This 10-year, multisite investigation has generated and continues to generate important findings and publications in sleep medicine, cardiovascular behavioral medicine and women?s health. Dr. Hall currently serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) for an R01 grant from the National Heart Lung and BIood Institute (NHLBI) that seeks to evaluate the role of sleep in the prospective association between major depression and cardiovascular disease.  She is also the Principal Investigator for a component project on stress and hyperarousal and serves as PI of the Statistics and Data Management Core for the Aging Well, Sleeping Efficiently program project funded by the National Institute on Aging.  Dr. Hall also serves as the Principal Investigator on an American Sleep Medicine Foundation grant that is using machine learning tools to identify novel sleep phenotypes in individuals with insomnia.  Dr. Hall has led or collaborated on 11 other NIH-funded grants seeking to understand the biopsychosocial causes of disturbed sleep and its downstream consequences to health.  Dr. Hall has widely published her research findings, with over 120 peer-review publications and numerous invited manuscripts, books, and book chapters.  She has also presented her research findings at numerous meetings and conferences throughout the United States and abroad.

In addition to her many accomplishments as a scientific investigator, Dr. Hall is an exceptional teacher and mentor.  She has served as primary mentor for successful post-doctoral fellows within the Department of Psychiatry, has mentored graduate students from numerous other departments, and is actively engaged in the education and mentorship of undergraduates, medical students, residents and early career faculty.  She is co-director of the Translational Research Training in Sleep Medicine program and is a faculty member for four other T32 grants.  Dr. Hall has taught courses and workshops within the Department of Psychiatry and other departments throughout the University of Pittsburgh, as well as other universities and at national and international meetings.  For the past decade, Dr. Hall has served as Principal Investigator for an R13 Conference Grant that supports travel awards and trainee workshops at the annual scientific meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society.  Dr. Hall has earned an international reputation as a thoughtful mentor known for challenging mentees and engaging them in funded research endeavors and peer-review publications.  

Dr. Hall is an outstanding academic citizen and has been actively involved in numerous scientific societies and professional organizations.  She has served on several committees and advisory groups within the University of Pittsburgh including the Neuroscience Clinical and Translational Research Center Scientific Advisory Committee.  Dr. Hall was elected president of the American Psychosomatic Society in 2012 and served as the head of the Sleep Research Society?s Sleep and Behavior Research Committee. She was elected into the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research in 2011 in recognition of her exceptional scientific productivity.  In addition, Dr. Hall serves as an Associate Editor of the journal Sleep, is on the editorial board of Psychosomatic Medicine, and serves as a reviewer for numerous other journals.  She also is a current member of the NIH Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health (MESH) study section and has served on numerous other NIH, Department of Defense and foundation study sections.