Dr. Reena Mehra, an internationally recognized leader in sleep medicine science trained in pulmonary and critical care medicine, is Director of the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders research program and Professor of Medicine.   As a trained epidemiologist via a NIH T32 National Research Service Award at Case Western Reserve University and expert of the impact of sleep disruption on health outcomes, she directs and leads a prolific program spanning the intersection of sleep disturbances with cardiopulmonary outcomes. 

The major focus of her meritorious nominated work is to understand the epidemiologic and translational aspects of sleep and circadian disorders relative to cardiac arrhythmia and cardiopulmonary disease including data generated from NIH support, i.e. R01, U01 (Sleep Core Lead of a multicenter study) and R21 mechanisms. The cumulative work led by Dr. Mehra has directly shaped guidelines including an American Heart Association Scientific Statement on Sleep Apnea and Cardiac Arrhythmia for which she served as Chair outlining a stepped care model of identifying and managing sleep apnea in cardiac arrhythmias. 

Dr. Mehra has led, and along with her team, established a large clinical registry of Sleep Signals, Testing, And Reports LInked to patient Traits (STARLIT) Registry at the Cleveland Clinic housing approximately two hundred thousand sleep studies as an incubator for novel artificial intelligence initiatives and serving as resource for early career investigators. The powerful team-based resources she has worked to build serve as the basis to extend her reach to nimbly address pressing scientific questions specific to the sleep disorders and cardiopulmonary disease and COVID-19.