Phyllis Zee MD, PhD

Dr. Phyllis C. Zee is a specialist in circadian and sleep medicine who founded the first U.S. Circadian Clinic at Northwestern Medicine, focusing on complex circadian disorders. Dr. Zee's research focus is to understand the mechanisms linking alterations in sleep, circadian rhythms, and sleep-wake disorders with the development and expression of neurological and cardio-metabolic disorders, and to develop sleep and circadian-based interventions aimed at improving cognitive and cardiometabolic health outcomes in populations at risk, including women and older adults.

Zee Laboratory has extensive experience in non-pharmacological and pharmacological clinical trials for insomnia, hypersomnia, sleep apnea, and circadian rhythm disorders. She is currently a principal investigator or collaborator in several NIH-funded projects that use interventions such as timed light, activity, and feeding schedules to probe mechanisms linking sleep and circadian disruption with cognitive impairment, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease.