Research by Faculty
Louise M. O'Brien, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Neurology
Dr. O'Brien is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology Sleep Disorders Center, and an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.
Dr. O'Brien earned a bachelor's degree with honors in physiology from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom in 1992. In 1998 she gained a Ph.D in physiology from Keele University, United Kingdom under the mentorship of David P. Southall, M.D. The title of her Ph.D. thesis was "Oxygen saturation and its relationship with breathing patterns in healthy full term infants throughout their first 24 hours of life".
After completing post-doctoral work in maternal and infant health research, Dr. O'Brien relocated to the United States in 2001 to train in pediatric sleep research. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric sleep research at the University of Louisville, KY with David Gozal, M.D. In 2006 she was recruited to the faculty at the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor by Ron Chervin, M.D., M.S. Dr. O'Brien also holds an appointment as an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.
Dr. O'Brien's research interests include neurobehavioral consequences of sleep-disordered breathing in children and sleep in children with medical problems such as cleft palate repair, craniofacial anomalies, and Williams Syndrome. She is also one of very few researchers actively investigating the impact of sleep-disordered breathing on adverse pregnancy outcomes such as pre-eclampsia in the mother and growth retardation in the fetus. Since her arrival at the University of Michigan, Dr. O'Brien has built collaborations between the Sleep Disorders Center and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and has several active studies.
Dr. O'Brien participates in the training of sleep medicine fellows and acts as a mentor for students interested in sleep research. She has published over 40 original manuscripts and over a dozen invited reviews and book chapters. In addition, she is an ad hoc reviewer for NIH study sections and for 16 professional journals, including the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Archives of Disease in Childhood, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Pediatrics, Sleep, and Sleep Medicine.
