Azizi A. Seixas PhD

Azizi Seixas, Ph.D., is an asleep and circadian sciences expert, health-tech innovator, and speaker focused on transforming data into stories that inspire action. He currently serves as an Associate Professor and the Director of the Media and Innovation Lab at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Seixas’ research within the Center for Healthful Behavior Change broadly focuses on three areas: multilevel determinants of sleep and cardiovascular disease disparities; long-term health consequences of cardiovascular disease (CVD) disparities; and, developing adaptive, group-tailored, and personalized behavior modification interventions, with the use of machine learning analytical tools, to improve health and well-being. In 2020, Dr. Seixas was chosen by Cell Press as one of the hundred most inspiring Black scientists in America.

Dr. Seixas’ previously funded National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH/NINDS) Diversity Supplement Award to the parent project Center for Stroke Disparities Solutions (U54NS081765) investigates the impact of neurocognitive and psychosocial impairments and sleep disturbance have on stroke disability among racial and ethnic minorities.

Dr. Seixas’ research further addresses sociocultural and environmental determinants of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease and mental illness, and behaviors that prevent access to adequate care in disparity communities, which are disproportionately burdened by adverse cardiovascular outcomes. More recently, his work identifies barriers hindering the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders among racial and ethnic minorities and evaluates the efficacy of behavioral models aimed at improving adherence to sleep and CVD recommended therapies. He utilizes machine learning analytical tools and systems science approaches to answer these complex health questions and develops just-in-time (adaptive, group-tailored, and personalized) behavioral approaches to improve adherence to recommended sleep and cardiovascular disease treatment.