Girardin Jean-Louis is an American academic who is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at th
University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.
He serves as Director of the Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences Program and the "Program to Increase Diversity among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research" (PRIDE BSM) Institute. Dr. Jean-Louis’ translational behavioral sleep and circadian research was recently featured in Science and NPR. In 2020, he was named ‘Pioneer in Minority Health and Health Disparities’ and one of the Community of Scholars' most inspiring Black scientists in America. In 2021, he received the Mary A. Carskadon Outstanding Educator Award from the Sleep Research Society, and in 2022 the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Early life and education

Jean-Louis grew up in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. He became interested in engineering as a child, and particularly enjoyed building different contraptions. At the age of seventeen he immigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he joined the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

as an undergraduate student in engineering. As a student he took an elective course in sleep lab techniques, and became interested in sleep and wakefulness. He earned his doctoral degree at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

. His doctoral research considered the impact of melatonin on sleep and cognition in elderly individuals. He was a postdoctoral research associate at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

, where he specialized in sleep and chronobiology. As part of his research, Jean-Louis advanced the science around wearable technologies (

actigraphy Actigraphy is a non-invasive method of monitoring human rest/activity cycles. A small actigraph unit, also called an actimetry sensor, is worn for a week or more to measure gross motor activity. The unit is usually in a wristwatch-like package wo ...

) to monitor patient's sleep-wake behavior out of hospital and expensive laboratories. In the early days of his research on sleep science, Jean-Louis struggled to find academic mentors, particularly mentors of color. He continued to improve the science of actigraphy such that it could be more readily used to collect sleep data in the comfort and safety of patient's own home.

Research and career

Jean-Louis studies the sociocultural and environmental determinants of health. His research considers sleep medicine and health equity, an in particular, how low-income and minority communities are impacted by insufficient sleep. He is particularly interested in why

sleep apnea Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder in which pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep occur more often than normal. Each pause can last for a few seconds to a few minutes and they happen many times ...

is under-diagnosed in African-Americans. In 2008, he showed that less than 40% of African-American patients with sleep apnea agreed to having a diagnostic test. In an effort to understand the sleep behavior of minority groups, Jean-Louis has led several outreach initiatives. These include programs in churches, barber shops and health salons. Jean-Louis was awarded an

National Institute on Aging The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), located in Bethesda, Maryland. The NIA itself is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The NIA leads a broad scientific effort to understand the ...

(NIA) Leadership Career Award in 2018. In 2020, he was selected as one of The Community of Scholars' most inspiring Black scientists in America. Alongside his academic research, Jean-Louis has launched several initiatives to support underrepresented minority groups in science and medicine. As the satisfaction and medical outcomes of communities of color are impacted by the racial/ethnic heritage of the physician, Jean-Louis believes there is an urgent need for more diverse medical practitioners.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jean-Louis, Girardin American people of Haitian descent City University of New York alumni City College of New York alumni New York University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) American psychiatrists Psychiatry academics Living people Sleep researchers