Frank A.J.L. Scheer, PhD
Frank A.J.L. Scheer, PhD, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, received the 2019 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the Sleep Research Society. This award honors individuals whose novel and seminal research has made a pivotal contribution to the sleep and circadian research field.
Scheer and long-term collaborator Steven A. Shea, director of the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, were recognized for showing the adverse effect of misalignment between the central circadian clock and the behavioral/environmental cycles on a broad spectrum of cardiometabolic factors in humans. This publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences was groundbreaking, linking the epidemiologic association between shift work and increased risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity with highly controlled preclinical studies showing that systematic manipulations of the alignment between the circadian clock and the behavioral cycle can lead to adverse metabolic consequences, including impairment of glucose tolerance, increased blood pressure and decreased levels of the appetite hormone leptin. With this work, Scheer and his collaborator showed that the mistiming of sleep-wake and feeding behaviors have strong and negative effects on cardiometabolic control, raising scientific and clinical interest into circadian misalignment and timing of behavior.
As a neuroscientist, Scheer focuses his research on medical chronobiology, including investigations of the underlying physiological mechanisms and therapeutic strategies to treat chronobiological disorders.
The Sleep Research Society is an organization for scientific investigators who educate and research sleep and circadian science. It serves its members and the field of sleep research through training and education, and by providing forums for the collaboration and the exchange of ideas.
