Kristine A. Wilckens PhD

Dr. Kristine A. Wilckens, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and a faculty member in the Center for Sleep and Circadian Science (CSCS). Her research focuses on understanding how sleep supports brain health and cognitive fitness, particularly in aging and in relation to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. She investigates neural processes during sleep that restore cognition, and develops sleep enhancement interventions, including behavioral methods and laboratory techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation, to improve brain network functioning and mitigate cognitive impairments.

Dr. Wilckens earned a BA in Psychology from Rutgers University (Douglass College) in 2006, followed by an MA in Psychology from New York University in 2008. She completed her PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh in 2012 and then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry through a National Institute of Mental Health T32 training program at the University of Pittsburgh, where she continued her work at the intersection of sleep, cognition, and aging.