Thomas Roth, PhD

Dr. Roth has been the Director of the Sleep Disorders and Research Center at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, since 1978. Dr. Roth is also a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Wayne State University, School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan, and serves as a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan, College of Medicine in Ann Arbor.

After serving as president of the Sleep Research Society, and the founding president of the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), Dr. Roth became chairman of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research advisory board. In addition, he was a member of the board of directors of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), chaired the Association's Scientific Program Committee and the governing board of the World Federation of Sleep Research Societies.

Dr. Roth was instrumental in the formation of the Association of Sleep Disorders Center (ASDC) and served as the organization’s second president. He is also the former Chairman of the World Health Organization’s worldwide project on sleep and health.

In addition to authoring and co-authoring numerous articles, Dr. Roth serves as past editor-in-chief of the journal Sleep. He currently sits on the editorial boards of Sleep Reviews, Stress Medicine, and Advances in Therapy and Human Psychopharmacology.

In 2002, Dr. Roth received the NSF’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his accomplishments and contributions to sleep science, sleep medicine and public health. He received a Distinguished Research Award from the Sleep Research Society as well as the Nathanial Kleitman Award from the Academy of Sleep Medicine. Dr. Roth’s contributions to the sleep field are expansive, ranging from prolific research productivity and scholarship to multiple national leadership positions, as well as the mentoring of many students and colleagues.

Dr. Roth received his doctorate in 1970 from the University of Cincinnati and has since studied sleep homeostatic processes, sleep loss, sleep fragmentation, sleep pathologies and the effects of pharmacologic agents on sleep/wake function.

Dr. Roth has published over 392 manuscripts, 13 edited volumes, 212 chapters, and 510 abstracts.

Honors & Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award, National Sleep Foundation, April 2002

Key Note Lecture, Hellenic Sleep Research Society, Athens, Greece, 1999

Nathaniel Kleitman Award of the American Sleep Disorders Association, 1990

Rush Bronze Award, American Psychiatric Association Meeting, Toronto, May 1977. Scientific Exhibit, “Evaluation of Hypnotics in Various Patient Populations.”

Federal Government Public Advisory Committee

Consultant Member, Orphan Products Development IRG, Food & Drug Administration, 1984-Present

Chairman, Special Study Section, NIH (Review of Sleep Research Proposals), 1985-86, 1988

Member Special Study Section, NIH (Review of Sleep Research Proposals), 1983-84