News

We are pleased to announce that Stephen Smagula, PhD, has received conferral of tenure at the rank of associate professor by the University of Pittsburgh. 

Dr. Smagula’s research focuses on circadian rhythm disruptions as a causal risk for depression, suicidal ideation, and dementia in older people. The overarching goal of his research is to determine if treating sleep problems behaviorally reduces depression and ultimately helps prevent suicide. As sleep-wake disruption is a highly modifiable target for intervention, Dr. Smagula develops and tests evidence-based scientific models of rest-activity rhythm dysfunction and translates these validated models into innovative mechanistic interventions to test in clinical trials. He has linked reduced early morning activity, a reliable clinical characteristic of depression, to neural mechanisms and produced pilot data demonstrating this pathway could be modified with a novel behavioral intervention (“Scheduling Activity and Monitoring Mornings” or SAMM).

He is currently principal investigator (PI) of a NIMH R01, a large multi-site, double-blind, randomized-controlled, efficacy trial of the Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction (TranS-C) for depression symptoms in older adults with high suicide risk, the first randomized controlled trial testing a behavioral sleep medicine intervention in this population. He is PI of a second NIMH R01, a randomized controlled trial investigating depression in older family dementia caregivers. To meet the need for wearable technology that monitors rest-activity rhythm, Dr. Smagula designed the myRhythmWatch (myRW) platform for Apple Watch and iPhone. In addition, Dr. Smagula successfully acquired a National Institute on Aging (NIA) Phase I STTR R41 grant to support additional development and piloting of the myRW system. Dr. Smagula additionally co-leads a foundation grant and serves as co-I on an NIMH R21. 

Dr. Smagula has received honors including the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Barry Lebowitz Early Career Scientist Award, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Research Award, and a Pitt Public Health Alumni Award for Career Excellence. He has published his research in top journals and presented his work at institutions and meetings including the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, and the Herrenhausen Symposium in Germany. Dr. Smagula is a current editorial board member for SLEEP, has served as an associate editorial board member for the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Dr. Smagula has taught graduate and medical students, as well as psychiatry residents, and postdoctoral scholars. He is an outstanding research mentor and has worked with undergraduates and graduate students in the Departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, as well as with medical students. In addition, he is a mentor with the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Career Institute in the Mental Health of Aging/Advanced Research Institute Mentoring Program for Early Career Researchers, and he is a mentor with the SLEEP Journal Reviewer Academy.

“Dr. Smagula is an outstanding clinical translational scientist. He has developed a strong and generative research program looking at circadian rhythm disruptions as causal risk factors for depression, suicidal ideation, and dementia, and he has demonstrated an innovative translation of research findings to treatment interventions in the real world,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). “He is highly sought-after as both an expert in his field and as a mentor to students, residents, postdocs, and early-career investigators, and is a superb citizen of the scientific community.”

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Smagula!