Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Dr. Julio Fernandez-Mendoza's research focuses on the relationship between disturbed, insufficient and misaligned sleep with cardiometabolic, neurocognitive and psychopathologic morbidity and mortality. He is examining these relationships in population-based cohorts of young children, adolescents and adults studied in the sleep lab and at home. His overarching goal is to better understand the maturational trajectories, natural course and associated health outcomes of normal and inadequate sleep and improve the phenotyping of its heterogeneous disorders, particularly insomnia and sleep apnea. His research relies on both subjective and objective methods and techniques such as standardized neurocognitive testing, polysomnography, spectral/FFT analysis, ambulatory actigraphy and inflammatory, stress, metabolic and sleep EEG biomarkers. His other research interests encompass testing the comparative effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral vs. pharmacological therapies for insomnia and its phenotypes.
Professional information
Associate Vice Chair for Faculty Research Development in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Penn State College of Medicine
Fellow, American Heart Association (Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health), 2025
Diplomate in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, July 2018
Certified in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, American Board of Sleep Medicine, October 2014
Somnologist - Expert in Behavioural Sleep Medicine, European Sleep Research Society, September 2014
Licensed Psychologist, Pennsylvania State Board of Psychology, April 2013
Clinical interests
Dr. Julio Fernandez-Mendoza's clinical practice includes a wide array of sleep-wake disorders, with a special emphasis on insomnia disorder, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, nightmare disorder and hypersomnia disorders. Clinically, he is a sleep psychologist applying behavioral sleep medicine (BSM) principles and therapies to assessing the onset, course and perpetuation of sleep and circadian disorders and intervening on the behavioral, cognitive and light-dependent factors contributing to the chronicity of these disorders. Specific BSM treatments he provides or supervises in his routine clinical practice include cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), chronotherapy and bright light therapy (BLT) exposure for circadian disorders, imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) for nightmare disorder, exposure relaxation and rescripting therapy (ERRT) for post-traumatic nightmares, scheduled napping and behavioral activation for hypersomnia disorders and mood-related sleep inertia, cognitive-behavioral therapy for night eating syndrome (CBT-NES) or behavioral desensitization and tolerance (BDT) for PAP adherence and compliance. He trains clinical psychology interns, psychiatry residents and neurology residents. He provides care in English and Spanish.
Teaching and educational interests
Dr. Julio Fernandez-Mendoza's teaching and educational interests include formal lecturing, clinical training and research mentoring of master-level students, medical students (MSR) and doctoral-level students as well as postdoctoral fellows, residents and junior faculty. His areas of mentorship and teaching focus on sleep physiology and behavior, sleep nosology, behavioral sleep medicine (BSM), population-based science and cognitive neuroscience. He teaches and trains within the scope of the Anatomy, Neuroscience, Psychology Internship, and Psychiatry Residency training programs at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health. He has served on several dissertation committees for the graduate programs just mentioned as well as for the Epidemiology, Biobehavioral Health and Nursing doctoral programs. As per clinical training, he serves as Director of the BSM Training Program, which is accredited by the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine to train the next generation of Diplomates in BSM (DBSM).
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Penn State College of Medicine
Jun 2010 → Dec 2013
Psychobiology, PhD, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Jun 2006 → May 2010
Sleep Physiology and Medicine, Master, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
Jan 2007 → Sep 2007
Psychobiology, Diploma de Estudios Avanzados , Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Nov 2003 → May 2006
Clinical and Health Psychology, Master, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Nov 2003 → Jul 2005
Licenciado in Psychology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Oct 1998 → Jul 2003
External positions
Director-at-Large, Sleep Research Society
2024 → 2027
Standing Member, Lifestyle and Health Behaviors (LHB) Study Section, National Institutes of Health
2022 → 2024
Past-President, Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine
2021 → 2022
Standing Member, Cancer, Heart, and Sleep Epidemiology Panel A (CHSA) Study Section, National Institutes of Health
2021 → 2022
Associate Editor, Frontiers in Neuroscience
2021 → …
Ad hoc Member, Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health (MESH) Study Section, National Institutes of Health
2021
Associate Editor, SLEEP
2021 → …
President, Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine
2020 → 2021
Ad hoc Member, Behavioral Medicine Interventions and Outcomes (BMIO) Study Section, National Institutes of Health
2020
Ad hoc Member, Emotions, Sleep, Stress, Health, and Psychopathology Special Emphasis Panel (SEP), National Institutes of Health
2020
Ad hoc Member, Cancer, Heart, and Sleep Epidemiology Panel A (CHSA) Study Section, National Institutes of Health
2020
President-elect, Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine
2019 → 2020
Associate Editor, Sleep Health
2019 → …
Psychologist Reviewer, Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) Program Committee
2018 → 2022
Director-at-Large, Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine
2018 → 2019
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Developmental Trajectories of Sleep EEG Biomarkers and Risk of Psychopathology Through Young Adulthood
Fernandez-Mendoza, J. (PI) & Fang, J. (CoPI)
National Institute of Mental Health
7/1/24 → 2/28/29
Project: Research project
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1/2 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Trazodone Effects on Sleep and Blood Pressure in Insomnia Phenotypes Based on Objective Sleep Duration: A Sequential Cohort/Randomized Controlled Trial
Vgontzas, A. (PI), Morin, C. C. M. (CoPI), Buysse, D. J. (CoPI), Smith, E. E. D. (CoPI), Taylor-Cousar, J. L. (CoPI) & Fernandez-Mendoza, J. (CoPI)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
7/1/24 → 6/30/25
Project: Research project
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1/2 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Trazodone Effects on Sleep and Blood Pressure in Insomnia Phenotypes Based on Objective Sleep Duration: A Sequential Cohort/Randomized Controlled Trial
Vgontzas, A. (PI), Morin, C. C. M. (CoPI), Buysse, D. J. (CoPI), Edinger, J. D. (CoPI) & Fernandez-Mendoza, J. (CoPI)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
7/1/23 → 6/30/24
Project: Research project
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Comparative Effectiveness of Zolpidem and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Rural Adults (COZi-R)
Stone, K. L. (PI), Buysse, D. (PI) & Fernandez-Mendoza, J. (CoI)
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
5/1/20 → 9/30/24
Project: Research project
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Sleep Cortical Dynamics and Neurobehavioral Risk in Children and Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study
National Institute of Mental Health
4/17/19 → 1/31/23
Project: Research project
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Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome (CDS) (Formerly Sluggish Cognitive Tempo), Autism, and Insomnia Symptoms in Childhood Predict CDS in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Population-Based Study
Mayes, S. D., Waschbusch, D. A., Fernandez-Mendoza, J. & Calhoun, S. L., Apr 2025, In: Child Psychiatry and Human Development. 56, 2, p. 369-378 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access5 Scopus citations -
Actigraphy measures show sleep improvement after parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism
Chan, K., Tseng, C. C., Milarachi, E., Goldrich, D. Y., King, T. S., Fernandez-Mendoza, J., Saadi, R. A., Saunders, B., Boltz, M. & Goldenberg, D., Jul 1 2024, In: American Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Medicine and Surgery. 45, 4, 104297.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
3 Scopus citations -
Age-related differences in the association of mild-to-moderate sleep apnea with incident cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
Vgontzas, A. N., He, F., Fernandez-Mendoza, J., Karagkouni, E., Pejovic, S., Karataraki, M., Li, Y. & Bixler, E. O., Jan 2024, In: Sleep Medicine. 113, p. 306-312 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
7 Scopus citations -
A meta-analysis of the association between insomnia with objective short sleep duration and risk of hypertension
Dai, Y., Vgontzas, A. N., Chen, L., Zheng, D., Chen, B., Fernandez-Mendoza, J., Karataraki, M., Tang, X. & Li, Y., Jun 2024, In: Sleep Medicine Reviews. 75, 101914.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
11 Scopus citations -
Circadian misalignment impacts the association of visceral adiposity with metabolic syndrome in adolescents
Morales-Ghinaglia, N., He, F., Calhoun, S. L., Vgontzas, A. N., Liao, J., Liao, D., Bixler, E. O. & Fernandez-Mendoza, J., Jan 1 2024, In: Sleep. 47, 1, zsad262.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access10 Scopus citations