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Orfeu Buxton

Orfeu M. Buxton, PhD (neuroscience, Northwestern 2000)
Elizabeth Fenton Susman Professor of Biobehavioral Health

Director, Sleep Health & Society Collaboratory, BBH/HHD/PSU
Orfeu@PSU.edu

Recipient of the 2025 Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award Lecture 

Penn State affiliations

Other Affiliation(s)

Brief Biography

Dr. Buxton’s research primarily focuses on 1) the causes of chronic sleep deficiency in the workplace, home, and society;  2) the health consequences of chronic sleep deficiency, especially cardiometabolic outcomes; and 3) the physiologic and social mechanisms by which these outcomes arise. Successful aging is a central focus of this work. Ongoing interdisciplinary human studies involve sleep loss, and insomnia, as well as health disparities.

After earning a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh and a stint as a small business owner, Dr. Buxton earned a doctoral degree in Neuroscience from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, working with Professors Eve Van Cauter and Fred Turek. He obtained post-doctoral training in sleep and endocrinology with Dr. Van Cauter at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Buxton co-founded the National Postdoctoral Association, a member-driven organization that provides a unique, national voice for postdoctoral scholars. Dr. Buxton currently serves as the second Editor in Chief of Sleep Health.