Sonia Ancoli-Israel, PhD

Professor of Psychiatry
University of California, San Diego
School of Medicine
Director, Sleep Disorders Clinic
Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System
San Diego, California

Sonia Ancoli-Israel, PhD is professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, director of the Sleep Disorders Clinic at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, co-director of the Laboratory of Sleep and Chronobiology at UCSD, and co-director of the Education Unit of the VA VISN-22 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC). Dr. Ancoli-Israel received her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, a master’s degree from California State University, Long Beach, and a doctorate in psychology from the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Ancoli-Israel is an internationally recognized speaker and one of the nation's predominant experts in the field of sleeping disorders, and has done significant sleep research in the aging population. Her current interests include the longitudinal effect of sleep disorders on the aging process, the effect of circadian rhythms on sleep, therapeutic interventions for sleep problems in dementia, and fatigue, particularly the relationship between sleep, fatigue, and circadian rhythms in cancer and other chronic illnesses.

Dr. Ancoli-Israel is president of the Sleep Research Society, and former president of the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms. She has served on the executive boards of both the Sleep Research Society, and the National Sleep Foundation. She also was a member of the program committee for the Association of Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) for five years, and in 1999 was a keynote speaker at the APSS annual meeting. She also has been a guest on television and radio programs including NPR's “Morning Edition,” and “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross.

Dr. Ancoli-Israel’s work is published in more than 300 medical and psychiatric journals. She has written the book, All I Want is a Good Night's Sleep, for the general public.