Priya Borker, MD

Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellow
MD, Medicine, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine (2014); Residency, Internal Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (2017)
Mentors: Sanjay Patel, MD, Bernard Macatangay, MD
borkerpv@upmc.edu

Dr. Borker received her medical degree at Case Western Reserve University in 2014 with Honors and Distinction in Research. She trained at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts for both her internal medicine residency and sleep medicine fellowship. She is currently completing her Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

She is currently investigating the biological mechanisms by which sleep dysregulation predisposes to inflammation and cardiovascular disease in persons with chronic HIV infection, specifically investigating monocyte activation. Her long-term goal is to understand how sleep contributes to adverse health outcomes, particularly cardiovascular and chronic lung diseases and implement interventions to mitigate this risk.

Postdoctoral Scholar, T32 Translational Research Training in Sleep and Circadian Science
BS, Neuroscience and Slavic Studies, University of Pittsburgh (2016); PhD, Neuroscience, THe University of Arizona (2022)
Mentor: Colleen McClung, PhD
dollishh@upmc.edu

My interests are in understanding the cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms behind circadian and seasonal phase shifting in mammals and humans. I am also interested in melatonin’s dualistic role as a both a circadian and seasonal timer and as a potent antioxidant, particularly with regards to its antioxidant and rhythmic properties and roles in mitochondria.

Amy Hartman, PhD, OTR/L

Postdoctoral Scholar, T32 Translational Research Training in Sleep and Circadian Science
PhD, Rehabilitation Science, University of Pittsburgh
Mentor: Adriane Soehner, PhD
Agh38@pitt.edu

Amy is a postdoctoral scholar in the Translational Research Training in Sleep and Circadian Science T32 program. She has 10 years of clinical experience as an occupational therapist and received her PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Amy’s research centers on exploring sleep for children with sensory processing differences. She has a special interest in examining the underlying neurological components of sensory processing dysfunction that impact sleep health. Her long-term goal is to use her research to advocate for sleep intervention in special populations.

Postdoctoral Scholar, T32 Translational Research in Sleep Medicine (2021-2022)
PhD (Neurobiology), University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
Mentors: Colleen McClung, phD
mrs215@pitt.edu

Madeline is a postdoctoral scholar in the T32 Translational Research Training in Sleep Medicine program. She received a PhD in Neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where she assessed how the cell’s degradation machinery was dysfunctional in the superior temporal gyrus of subjects with schizophrenia. She is continuing to study schizophrenia in Dr. McClung’s lab, where she now works on identifying differences in both 12 and 24 h transcript expression rhythms in the human prefrontal cortex associated with psychiatric illnesses.

Michelle Stepan, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar, T32 Translational Research Training in Sleep Medicine
PhD, Psychology, Michigan State University (2019)
Mentors: Kristine Wilckens, PhD, Peter Franzen,PhD
stepanme@upmc.edu

Michelle is a postdoctoral scholar in the Translational Research Training in Sleep Medicine T32 program. She received her doctorate in Psychology from the Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience program at Michigan State University. Michelle’s research broadly focuses on the role of sleep in cognitive and emotional processes. She uses experimental manipulations of sleep duration and sleep architecture to investigate how sleep affects processes such as cognitive control, attention, memory, and emotion regulation and how these processes relate to anxiety and mood disorders. She is also interested in behavioral and pharmacological interventions to improve dysfunction caused by poor sleep. 

Postdoctoral Scholar, T32
PhD, Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2016)
Mentors: Daniel J. Buysse, MD, Martica Hall, PhD and Brant Hasler, PhD
tracyel@upmc.edu

Eunjin is a postdoctoral scholar within the T32 in Clinical and Translational Research Training in Geriatric Mental Health. She received her doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies from University of Wisconsin-Madison and postdoctoral training in Health Psychology from the University of Utah. Eunjin’s research broadly examines the role of sleep as central to the health behaviors in managing chronic illnesses and aging health issues in the context of couple and family relationships.