Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A faculty member in Mississippi State’s Department of Psychology has been recognized nationally for significant contributions to the field of behavioral sleep medicine.

Michael R. Nadorff, an assistant professor of psychology who oversees the university’s Sleep, Suicide and Aging Laboratory, is a 2017 recipient of the Art Spielman Early Career Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

Nadorff officially accepted the award during the annual SLEEP meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC in Boston, Massachusetts. His trip to the conference was made possible in part by a travel grant from the university’s Office of Research and Economic Development.

The SLEEP meeting serves as the premier world forum for researchers to present and discuss the latest developments in clinical sleep medicine, as well as sleep and circadian science.

“The conference was very helpful for getting a sense of where the (behavioral sleep medicine) field is going, as well as where funding will be available,” Nadorff said.

At the conference, Nadorff gave a poster presentation on sleep and suicide, showing that insomnia is a proximal risk factor of suicidal behavior and thus may be particularly helpful in judging current clinical risk.

“This was a hot topic at the conference, and the presentation gave me an opportunity to discuss collaborations with other research teams,” Nadorff said. “My next step will be looking at sleep deprivation in relation to short-term suicide risk.”

Nadorff holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame, along with master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from West Virginia University. He also completed a doctoral internship at the Baylor College of Medicine.

In addition to behavioral sleep medicine—particularly assessment and interventions for insomnia and nightmare disorders—Nadorff’s research interests include the etiology, assessment and treatment of suicidal behavior, clinical geropsychology, and the use of technology for psychological treatment.

Since 2014, Nadorff has served as a co-principal investigator for “Substance Perception of Positive Information, Psychopathology and Impaired Functioning,” a project funded through the end of the year by a $416,388 R15 AREA Grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Nadorff is a licensed psychologist on the Behavioral Sleep Medicine roster of practitioners in Mississippi. For more, visit www.nadorff.psychology.msstate.edu.

Based in Lexington, Kentucky, the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine is an interdisciplinary organization committed to advancing the scientific approach to studying the behavioral, psychological and physiological dimensions of sleep and sleep disorders and the application of this knowledge to the betterment of individuals and societies worldwide. For more, visit https://www.behavioralsleep.org.

For more information about MSU’s Department of Psychology, visit www.psychology.msstate.edu; the College of Arts and Sciences, www.cas.msstate.edu.

Nadorff may be contacted at 662-325-1222 or MNadorff@psychology.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.