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Frank A.J.L. Scheer, Ph.D.

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Biography
education and training
Utrecht University, Utrecht, The NetherlandsBS05/1995Biology
Utrecht University, Utrecht, The NetherlandsMSc05/1997Neurophysiology
Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsPhD01/2003Neuroscience
Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USAPostdoctoral06/2005Sleep Medicine
awards and honors
2005 - 2007
Pickwick Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Sleep Foundation
2005
Young Investigator Neurology Section Award, American Academy of Sleep Medicine
2006
Alliance Chronosleep Award, European Sleep Research Society
2006
Finalist Helgi Kristbjarnarson's Award, European Sleep Research Society
2007
Young Investigator Award, American Academy of Sleep Medicine
2008
1st Place Clinical Research Young Investigator Award, National Sleep Foundation/Sleep Research Socie
2009
Neal Miller Award, Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research
2010
Young Investigator Award, Honorable Mention, Sleep Research Society
2014
Nominated for the 2013-2014 Harold Amos Faculty Diversity Award, Harvard Medical School
2015
Nominated for 2014-2015 A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award, Harvard Medical School
2019
Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award, Sleep Research Society
2023
Pillars of Excellence Award, Mass General Brigham
2023
Mrosovsky Keynote Lecture Award, Canadian Society for Chronobiology

Overview
overview
Dr. Frank A.J.L. Scheer is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), a Senior Neuroscientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and the Director of the Medical Chronobiology Program (MCP) at BWH, Boston. Dr. Scheer’s work focuses on influences of the endogenous circadian system and its disruption—such as with shift work—on cardiovascular, pulmonary, and metabolic regulation and disease states, including hypertension, asthma, obesity, and diabetes. Since 2005, Dr. Scheer has been funded continuously as Principal Investigator by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Scheer has received numerous scientific awards, including the Young Investigator Award by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the Neal Miller Award by the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award by the Sleep Research Society. Dr. Scheer is an Editorial Board Member of several peer-reviewed journals, including the American Journal of Cardiovascular Disease, the Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, and Chronobiology International, and is an Associate Editor at the journals SLEEP and Frontiers in Sleep.

Trainees
- Undergraduate: Taneisha Benjamin, 2005; Thomas J. Shea, 2006-2007; Anna Dowdle, 2006-2008; Grace McKay-Corkum, 2012; Isadora Bozzi, 2012-2013; Lucas Vargas, 2013; Seth Morrison, 2019; Charles Zimmerman, 2023-2024.
- Masters: Mariya Kogan, 2007-2008; Kirk Krogsted, 2007-2013; Noortje Trienekens, 2011-2012; Ann-Cathrin Plennis, 2015;
- PhD student: Stefan E. Knapen, 2018 (internship); Yolanda Larriba, 2019 (internship); Olga Minaeva, 2021 (internship), Phillip Alexander Keller Andersen 2022-2023 (internship).
- Post-doctoral: Anne-Marie Chang, PhD, 2005 - 2011; Kun Hu, PhD, 2006-2007; Mikhail Litinski, MD, 2008-2009; Christopher J. Morris, PhD, 2010-2015; Wenli Zhang, MD 2011-2012; Matthew Butler, PhD 2011-2013; David Barr, PhD 2013-2015; Jingyi Qian, PhD 2015-2020; Andrew McHill, PhD 2016-2017; Sarah Chellappa, PhD 2016-2019; Nina Vujovic, PhD, 2017-2022; Ivy Cheung Mason, PhD, 2018-2023; Raphael Knaier, PhD, 2020-2022; Han-Chow Koh, PhD, 2022-present; Arman Arab, PhD, 2023-present; Ioannis Lempesis, MD, PhD, 2024-present; Angus Burns, PhD, 2024-present.
- Junior Faculty: Lei Gao, MD 2018-2020; Jingyi Qian, PhD 2020-present; Jacqueline M. Lane, PhD 2018-2023; Fransisco Romo-Nava, MD, PhD 2020-2024; Kelly Zuromski, PhD 2020-2024; Eline H. van Roekel, PhD 2022-2025.

Teaching
- Course Co-Director (with Charles A. Czeisler), MCB 186, Sleep and Circadian Clocks: from Biology to Public Health, Harvard College, Cambridge, MA
- General Education Course Co-Director (with Charles A. Czeisler), Gen Ed 1038, Sleep, Harvard College, Cambridge, MA
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Research
research activities and funding
The research activities and funding listed below are automatically derived from NIH ExPORTER and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing items. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
Most Recent  |  List All
  1. R01HL167746 (SCHEER, FRANK A) Aug 1, 2023 - Jul 31, 2027
    NIH
    Effect of high fat diet on the circadian system and on circadian rhythms in energy intake and expenditure
    Role Description: The major goals of this project are to determine whether macronutrient intake will alter the circadian system and thereby rhythms of energy balance regulation in human.
    Role: Principal Investigator
  2. R01HL164454 (SCHEER, FRANK A) Jul 10, 2023 - Jun 30, 2028
    NIH
    Effect of temporal distribution of macronutrient intake on metabolism
    Role Description: The major goals of this project are to determine whether the temporal distribution of macronutrient intake will affect metabolism in humans.
    Role: Principal Investigator
  3. R01HL153969 (SCHEER, FRANK A) Jul 1, 2021 - Jun 30, 2026
    NIH
    Food Timing to Mitigate Adverse Consequences of Night Work
    Role: Principal Investigator
  4. R01HL140574 (SCHEER, FRANK A) Sep 15, 2017 - May 31, 2024
    NIH
    Role of Meal Timing in Efficacy of Bariatric Surgery in Obese Individuals
    Role Description: The major goals of this project are to determine whether the temporal distribution of macronutrient intake will affect metabolism in humans.
    Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  5. R01DK105072 (SAXENA, RICHA) Jun 1, 2016 - May 31, 2021
    NIH
    Impact of Malatonin, Food Timing and Receptor Variant on Type 2 Diabetes Risk
    Role: Co-Principal Investigator

Featured Content
Featured Videos
  • Circadian Rhythms and Your Health
  • Harvard Medical School’s Longwood Seminars

Bibliographic
selected publications
Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
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PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
Displaying 25 of 223 total Publications Show all
  1. Dashti HS, Jansen EC, Zuraikat FM, Dixit S, Brown M, Laposky A, Broussard JL, Butler MP, Creasy SA, Crispim CA, Depner CM, Esser KA, Garaulet M, Hanlon EC, Makarem N, Manoogian ENC, Peterson CM, Scheer FAJL, Wright KP, Goff DC, Pratt CA, Gamble KL, St-Onge MP. Advancing Chrononutrition for Cardiometabolic Health: A 2023 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop Report. J Am Heart Assoc. 2025 Apr 23; e039373. PMID: 40265587.
    Citations:
  2. Chellappa SL, Gao L, Qian J, Vujovic N, Li P, Hu K, Scheer FAJL. Daytime eating during simulated night work mitigates changes in cardiovascular risk factors: secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial. Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 08; 16(1):3186. PMID: 40199860.
    Citations:
  3. Wallace DA, Evenson KR, Isasi CR, Patel SR, Sotres-Alvarez D, Zee PC, Redline S, Scheer FAJL, Sofer T. Characteristics of objectively-measured naturalistic light exposure patterns in U.S. adults: A cross-sectional analysis of two cohorts. Sci Total Environ. 2025 Mar 15; 969:178839. PMID: 39999702.
    Citations:
  4. Barker DH, Carskadon MA, Gredvig-Ardito C, Hart CN, Raynor HA, Scheer FAJL. Independent effects of the human circadian system and sleep/eating cycles on caloric intake in adolescents vary by weight status. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Feb 25; 122(8):e2407907122. PMID: 39964717.
    Citations:
  5. Arab A, Lempesis IG, Garaulet M, Scheer FAJL. Sleep and the Mediterranean diet: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2025 Feb 07; 80:102071. PMID: 40081182.
    Citations:
  6. Rodríguez-Martín M, Salmerón D, Dashti HS, Isabel Cascales A, Aragón-Alonso A, Scheer FAJL, Saxena R, Garaulet M. Siesta behavior and genetics interact to influence obesity risk. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2025 Jan; 33(1):164-176. PMID: 39711202; PMCID: PMC11664305.
    Citations: 1
    Fields: MetMetabolismNutNutritional SciencesPhyPhysiologyTranslation:Humans
  7. Minaeva O, Riese H, Booij SH, Lamers F, Giltay EJ, Scheer FAJL, Hu K. Fractal motor activity during wakefulness and sleep: a window into depression recency and symptom recurrence. Psychol Med. 2024 Dec 02; 1-9. PMID: 39620467; PMCID: PMC11650180.
    Citations:
    Fields: PsyPsychology
  8. Rodríguez-Martín M, Pérez-Sanz F, Zambrano C, Luján J, Ryden M, Scheer FAJL, Garaulet M. Circadian transcriptome oscillations in human adipose tissue depend on napping status and link to metabolic and inflammatory pathways. Sleep. 2024 Nov 08; 47(11). PMID: 38995117; PMCID: PMC11543616.
    Citations: 1
    Fields: PsyPsychophysiologyTranslation:HumansCells
  9. Gao L, Zheng X, Baker SN, Li P, Scheer FAJL, Nogueira RC, Hu K. Associations of Rest-Activity Rhythm Disturbances With Stroke Risk and Poststroke Adverse Outcomes. J Am Heart Assoc. 2024 Sep 17; 13(18):e032086. PMID: 39234806.
    Citations: 2
    Fields: CarCardiologyVasVascular DiseasesTranslation:Humans
  10. Grant LK, Gonsalvez I, Cohn AY, Nathan MD, Harder JA, Klerman EB, Scheer FAJL, Kaiser UB, Crawford S, Luo T, Wiley A, Rahman SA, Joffe H. The effect of experimentally induced sleep fragmentation and estradiol suppression on neurobehavioral performance and subjective sleepiness in premenopausal women. Sleep. 2024 Aug 14; 47(8). PMID: 38874415; PMCID: PMC11321839.
    Citations: 1
    Fields: PsyPsychophysiologyTranslation:Humans
  11. Zambrano C, Garitaonaindia MT, Salmerón D, Pérez-Sanz F, Tchio C, Picinato MC, de Medina FS, Luján J, Scheer FAJL, Saxena R, Martínez-Augustin O, Garaulet M. Melatonin decreases human adipose tissue insulin sensitivity. J Pineal Res. 2024 Aug; 76(5):e12965. PMID: 38860494.
    Citations: 1
    Fields: EndEndocrinologyTranslation:Humans
  12. Murray JM, Stone JE, Abbott SM, Bjorvatn B, Burgess HJ, Cajochen C, Dekker JJ, Duffy JF, Epstein LJ, Garbazza C, Harsh J, Klerman EB, Lane JM, Lockley SW, Pavlova MK, Quan SF, Reid KJ, Scheer FAJL, Sletten TL, Wright KP, Zee PC, Phillips AJK, Czeisler CA, Rajaratnam SMW, International Association of Circadian Health Clinics. A Protocol to Determine Circadian Phase by At-Home Salivary Dim Light Melatonin Onset Assessment. J Pineal Res. 2024 Aug; 76(5):e12994. PMID: 39158010.
    Citations:
    Fields: EndEndocrinologyTranslation:Humans
  13. Zambrano C, González-Alvarado E, Salmerón D, Ruiz-Ojeda FJ, Luján J, Scheer FAJL, Garaulet M. Time-restricted eating affects human adipose tissue fat mobilization. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2024 Sep; 32(9):1680-1688. PMID: 39073251; PMCID: PMC11357894.
    Citations:
    Fields: MetMetabolismNutNutritional SciencesPhyPhysiologyTranslation:HumansCells
  14. Chong MY, Frenken KG, Eussen SJPM, Koster A, Pot GK, Breukink SO, Janssen-Heijnen M, Keulen ETP, Bijnens W, Buffart LM, Meijer K, Scheer FAJL, Steindorf K, de Vos-Geelen J, Weijenberg MP, van Roekel EH, Bours MJL. Longitudinal associations of diurnal rest-activity rhythms with fatigue, insomnia, and health-related quality of life in survivors of colorectal cancer up to 5 years post-treatment. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2024 May 02; 21(1):51. PMID: 38698447; PMCID: PMC11067118.
    Citations:
    Fields: BehBehavioral SciencesNutNutritional SciencesSpoSports MedicineTranslation:Humans
  15. Dashti HS, Scheer FAJL, Saxena R, Garaulet M. Publisher Correction: Impact of polygenic score for BMI on weight loss effectiveness and genome-wide association analysis. Int J Obes (Lond). 2024 May; 48(5):746. PMID: 38459260.
    Citations:
    Fields: MetMetabolism
  16. Arab A, Karimi E, Garaulet M, Scheer FAJL. Dietary patterns and insomnia symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2024 Jun; 75:101936. PMID: 38714136; PMCID: PMC11179690.
    Citations: 1
    Fields: NeuNeurologyPsyPsychophysiologyTranslation:HumansPHPublic Health
  17. Faraci FM, Scheer FAJL. Hypertension: Causes and Consequences of Circadian Rhythms in Blood Pressure. Circ Res. 2024 03 15; 134(6):810-832. PMID: 38484034; PMCID: PMC10947115.
    Citations: 4
    Fields: CarCardiologyVasVascular DiseasesTranslation:Humans
  18. Meyer N, Lok R, Schmidt C, Kyle SD, McClung CA, Cajochen C, Scheer FAJL, Jones MW, Chellappa SL. The sleep-circadian interface: A window into mental disorders. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Feb 27; 121(9):e2214756121. PMID: 38394243; PMCID: PMC10907245.
    Citations: 7
    Fields: SciScienceTranslation:Humans
  19. Klerman EB, Wright KP, Duffy JF, Scheer FAJL, Chang AM, Czeisler CA, Rajaratnam SM. A perspective on the Festschrift of Charles A. Czeisler, PhD MD. Sleep Health. 2024 Feb; 10(1S):S4-S10. PMID: 38331654; PMCID: PMC11031332.
    Citations:
    Fields: PsyPsychophysiology
  20. Dashti HS, Scheer FAJL, Saxena R, Garaulet M. Impact of polygenic score for BMI on weight loss effectiveness and genome-wide association analysis. Int J Obes (Lond). 2024 May; 48(5):694-701. PMID: 38267484.
    Citations: 1
    Fields: MetMetabolismTranslation:HumansCTClinical Trials
  21. Wallace DA, Qiu X, Schwartz J, Huang T, Scheer FAJL, Redline S, Sofer T. Light exposure during sleep is bidirectionally associated with irregular sleep timing: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA). Environ Pollut. 2024 Mar 01; 344:123258. PMID: 38159634; PMCID: PMC10947994.
    Citations:
    Fields: EnvEnvironmental HealthTranslation:Humans
  22. Arab A, Karimi E, Garaulet M, Scheer FAJL. Social jetlag and obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2024 Mar; 25(3):e13664. PMID: 38072635.
    Citations: 5
    Fields: MetMetabolismTranslation:Humans
  23. Heller HC, Herzog E, Brager A, Poe G, Allada R, Scheer F, Carskadon M, de la Iglesia HO, Jang R, Montero A, Wright K, Mouraine P, Walker MP, Goel N, Hogenesch J, Van Gelder RN, Kriegsfeld L, Mah C, Colwell C, Zeitzer J, Grandner M, Jackson CL, Roxanne Prichard J, Kay SA, Paul K. The Negative Effects of Travel on Student Athletes Through Sleep and Circadian Disruption. J Biol Rhythms. 2024 Feb; 39(1):5-19. PMID: 37978840; PMCID: PMC11262807.
    Citations: 1
    Fields: PhyPhysiologyTranslation:Humans
  24. Cohn AY, Grant LK, Nathan MD, Wiley A, Abramson M, Harder JA, Crawford S, Klerman EB, Scheer FAJL, Kaiser UB, Rahman SA, Joffe H. Effects of Sleep Fragmentation and Estradiol Decline on Cortisol in a Human Experimental Model of Menopause. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023 10 18; 108(11):e1347-e1357. PMID: 37207451; PMCID: PMC10584010.
    Citations: 5
    Fields: EndEndocrinologyMetMetabolismTranslation:Humans
  25. Wallace DA, Qiu X, Schwartz J, Huang T, Scheer FAJL, Redline S, Sofer T. Light exposure during sleep is associated with irregular sleep timing: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). medRxiv. 2023 Oct 12. PMID: 37873226; PMCID: PMC10593018.
    Citations:
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