Fred Turek, PhD

Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Biology
Director, Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology
Director, Center for Circadian Biology & Medicine
Feinberg School of Medicine

Research Interests:
The research program of Fred Turek is focused on the study of sleep and circadian rhythms, as well as on the photoperiodic control of seasonal reproductive cycles in mammals. Ongoing work on sleep and circadian rhythms includes an investigation of: 1) the neurochemical molecular and cellular events involved in the entrainment, generation and expression of circadian rhythms arising from a central biological clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, 2) the role of melatonin in modulating sleep and circadian rhythms, 3) the genetics of the circadian clock system and the molecular genetic mechanisms underlying the sleep-wake cycle, 4) the feedback effects of the sleep-wake cycle on the circadian clock regulating the timing of that cycle, 5) the effects of advanced age on the expression of behavioral and endocrine rhythms, and on the expression of circadian clock genes, and 6) the effects of chronic sleep deprivation on sleep, rhythmicity, performance, metabolism and response to stress and drugs of abuse. Of particular interest is the role of the circadian system in measuring the annual change in daylength; information which is used in the photoperiodic regulation of the seasonal reproductive cycle. Dr. Turek’s laboratory is also studying sleep and rhythmicity in a variety of genetic models in rats and mice with a focus on rodent models that are relevant to human disease states, particularly depression, diabetes, obesity and stress. They have also established a mutagenesis and phenotypic screening program to produce animals with altered sleep phenotypes with the eventual objective of discovering mutant genes that are involved in the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle. In addition, to their work on rodents, they have established extensive collaborations with clinical researchers. Studies in humans are aimed at shifting the human clock in an attempt to alleviate mental and physical problems that are associated with disorders in circadian time-keeping, particularly in the elderly and in shift-workers. In addition, his lab is using both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to determine if they can reverse the effects of aging on the circadian clock system of both rodents and humans.