Hosted by the Department of Epidemiology
Dr. Saverio Stranges will provide an overview on the relevance of sleep health as a major but still neglected public health priority globally. He will present some of his epidemiological work from population-based studies on the link between sleep problems and chronic disease risk, with emphasis on social determinants of health and disparities in the distribution of the disease burden associated with poor sleep patterns.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Saverio Stranges, MD, PhD, FAHA, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University in Canada. He is a medical doctor, public health specialist and chronic disease epidemiologist, with extensive experience in the field of epidemiology and public health research. Dr. Stranges' research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of chronic disease and aging across the life-course, specifically regarding the role of lifestyles, behavioral and psychosocial factors, such as dietary patterns, sleep behaviors and social determinants of health. He is also interested in global health as well as in interdisciplinary research.
Throughout his career, Dr. Stranges has been involved in several international epidemiological projects, clinical trials, secondary data analyses and systematic review work, and has published extensively in epidemiology and public health research, with over 330 publications as scientific articles, reviews and book chapters (H-index=88). His research has been funded by several international agencies, including the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in the UK, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Health Canada, the Fonds National de la Recherché (FNR) in Luxembourg, and the European Union. Dr. Stranges has been involved in the teaching and mentoring of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students, as well as clinical fellows, residents, and junior doctors for over twenty years.
Dr. Stranges is also Director of the Africa Institute at Western University. In November 2023, he was elected as President of the Chronic Disease Section for the European Public Health Association. He is also Professor (part-time) in the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery at University of Naples Federico II in Italy, Visiting Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at Humanitas University in Italy and at University of Luxembourg, and a fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA). Dr. Stranges is an Associate Editor for several scientific journals including International Journal of Public Health; European Journal of Public Health; BMC Public Health; Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease; and Sleep Health.
Dr. Stranges completed his medical education in 1996 (cum laude) and specialty training in preventive and public health medicine in 2000 at University of Naples Federico II. He then earned his PhD in Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2004. In 2005, Dr. Stranges began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at SUNY Buffalo. Thereafter, he was an Associate Clinical Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology in the Division of Health Sciences at University of Warwick in the UK. Prior to his appointment at Western University, he worked as Scientific Director of the Department of Population Health within the Luxembourg Institute of Health.