Orfeu M. Buxton

• Facets of sleep health in a biopsychosocial framework
• Biomarkers of health and well being including wearable data to biological specimens
• Acoustic disruption and enhancement of sleep
• Successful aging and resilience across the life course

Lecturer on Medicine, Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Associate Neuroscientist, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Other Affiliations

• Co-chair, Steering Committee of the Work, Family, and Health Network
• Faculty member, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
• Advisory Board, Center for Work, Health, and Well-being, Harvard School of Public Health
• Editorial Board member, Sleep Health
• Faculty Affiliate and Steering Committee, Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI)
• Faculty Affiliate, Penn State’s Population Research Institute (PRI) 
• Graduate Faculty in Neuroscience
• Graduate Faculty in Physiology

Brief Biography

Dr. Buxton’s research primarily focuses on 1) the causes of chronic sleep deficiency in the workplace, home, and society, and 2) the health consequences of chronic sleep deficiency, especially cardiometabolic outcomes, and 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, aging, and insomnia, as well as health disparities.

Dr. Buxton serves on the Internal Advisory Board for the Harvard School of Public Health Center for Work, Health, and Well-being. Dr. Buxton is a member of the Work, Family, and Health Network, co-chairs the Steering Committe, and leads the Biomarker and Actigraphy Data Coordinating Center (BADCC) for the Work, Family, and Health Study, among others.

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.

The causes of sleep deficiency (insufficient duration or inadequate sleep quality) in the workplace, home, and society.

The health consequences of sleep deficiency, especially cardiometabolic outcomes, and the physiologic and social mechanisms by which these outcomes arise.

Director, Sleep, Health, & Society Program

In the News

• NY Times: "Ask an Expert: Advice for Boomers Concerned About Sleep Deficiency” Parts 1-3
• Scientific American: "Night Noise: What a Sleeping Brain Hears"
• NIOSH Science Blog: "Sleep, Pain, and Hospital Workers"
• New York Times: "The Clatter of the Hospital Room"
• Wall Street Journal: "Cutting the Cost of Cacophony in Hospitals"
• Press Release: "Brain rhythm predicts ability to sleep through a noisy night"
• HealthDay: "Sleep Plays Important Role in Cardiometabolic Disease Risk"
• Reuters: "Adequate sleep tied to healthier diets in truckers"
• BWH News Brief: "Sleep and insulin sensitivity"
• Ignites.com: "People Feature: You Snooze, You Win?"
• Science Careers: "NPA Founders Find Success"