Reena M. Mehra MD, MS, FCCP, FAASM, FAHA

Reena Mehra MD, MS, FCCP, FAASM is a Staff Physician and Professor of Medicine of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. She serves as Director of Sleep Disorders Research in the Sleep Center of the Neurologic Institute with joint appointments in the Respiratory Institute, Molecular Cardiology Department of the Lerner Research Institute, and the Heart, Vascular &Thoracic Institute.

Dr. Mehra is a physician-scientist with a research focus on the investigation of pathways that modulate the relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and abnormal cardiac electrophysiology as well as cardiovascular disease in clinical trials and epidemiological studies. Dr. Mehra’s research program is funded by the National Institute of Health, but she has also procured funding from the American College of Chest Physicians, American Heart Association, Clinical Translational Science Collaborative, and Central Society of Clinical Research.

She received her MD from an accelerated BS/MD program at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in 1996, performed Internal Medicine residency training at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, completed a Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, and is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in these respective subspecialties. She proceeded to enroll in a T32 training grant via the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award in Sleep Medicine Neurobiology and Epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University and obtained a Master’s degree in Clinical Science through the Clinical Research Scholars Program.

In 2004, she joined the faculty at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University where she served as Medical Director of the Sleep Disorders Center leading it through dual American Academy of Sleep Medicine accreditation of two sites and served as Director of Sleep Cardiovascular Research and Clinical Investigation. She is an advocate for women in medicine with the goal of facilitating professional development and networking and served as President of the Women Faculty of the School of Medicine from 2008-2010.

She serves as Associate Editor for the journal CHEST, a former standing member of the Cancer, Heart and Sleep Epidemiology (CHSA) NHLBI/NIH study section, Chair of the American Thoracic Society Sleep Respiratory Neurobiology Planning Committee, Chair of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) Young Physicians Presidential Committee as well as national task forces including AASM Sleep Apnea Definitions Task Force, AASM Portable Monitoring Technology Task Force, Sleep Research Network and NHLBI Candidate Gene Association Resource working groups.

Dr. Mehra has received numerous awards including Associated Professional Sleep Societies Young Investigator Award, American Heart Association National Scientist Development Award, American College of Chest Physicians-Associated Subspecialty Professors T. Franklin Williams Scholar Award, Central Society of Clinical Research Career Development and Young Investigator Awards, American Federation for Medical Research Scholar Award, Best Doctors designation in Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Medicine 2011-2016 and Women Faculty of School of the School of Medicine Junior and Mid-Career Faculty Career Development Awards.

Dr. Mehra has mentored over 30 trainees, has over 100 publications including the author of the UpToDate sleep and cardiovascular disease section, original investigations, reviews, editorials, and chapters in high-impact journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and Circulation. She is involved in media relations to increase awareness of sleep disorders, has appeared on numerous national news broadcasts, and has been an invited lecturer on a national and international level.