Katherine M. Sharkey MD, PhD

Dr. Katherine M. Sharkey, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Human Behavior, has been appointed Assistant Dean for Women in Medicine and Science. Dr. Sharkey completed her MD/Ph.D. at Rush University in Chicago, where she was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. She completed a combined internal medicine and psychiatry residency at Rush and joined the Brown faculty in 2007. Dr. Sharkey is the medical director of the University Medicine Sleep Center, where she maintains a busy clinical practice and associate director of the Sleep for Science Research Laboratory at Brown. Dr. Sharkey’s research focuses on sleep and circadian rhythms as they relate to mood regulation and women's health. 

A fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Dr. Sharkey is past chair of the Academy’s Young Investigator Research Forum and the Circadian Rhythms section. She is an associate editor of Behavioral Sleep Medicine and serves on the editorial board of Sleep Health. Dr. Sharkey is a member of the Society for Women’s Health Research Interdisciplinary Network on Sleep. Her current research is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and a grant from the Seleni Institute. Dr. Sharkey has served as a member of the Office of Women in Medicine and Science (OWIMS) Advisory Board since 2008. She has been an invited speaker for OWIMS’ professional development programs and played a key role in the administration and analysis of the OWIMS/BioMed Faculty Survey. Dr. Sharkey also mentors medical students in career development and scientific projects.