Chandra Jackson, Ph.D., M.S.

Sleep, an essential human need for maintaining biological homeostasis, is a seemingly simple behavior and yet complex physiological state. It is not entirely endogenous and is, therefore, positively or negatively affected by modifiable physical (e.g., light, temperature, and noise) as well as social (e.g., psychosocial stress) environmental factors. Preventing or minimizing the impact of environmental disturbances on sleep duration, quality, and timing could help populations avoid or delay a broad range of chronic diseases, including the number one cause of death in the United States – cardiovascular disease.

To inform interventions that improve or maintain the public’s health, my research group seeks to illuminate the social and biological pathways linking these upstream, modifiable physical and social environmental factors to sleep and subsequent cardiovascular health.

Dr. Jackson is a tenured Earl Stadtman Investigator who earned a M.S. in Cardiovascular Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Epidemiology from The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She was an Alonzo Smythe Yerby postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Research Associate at the Harvard Catalyst Clinical and Translational Science Center. She has earned several merit-based awards, including the Charlotte Silverman Award for outstanding commitment to public health, policy, and community outreach at Johns Hopkins, an Outstanding Fellows Award at Harvard, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. As a member of the community of sleep scientists, Dr. Jackson has served on the Board of Directors for the Sleep Research Society and the National Sleep Foundation. She has also performed duties for the World Sleep Society’s Global Sleep Health Taskforce.