Candice Alfano, PhD is a Professor of Psychology, a licensed clinical psychologist, and Director of the Sleep and Anxiety Center of Houston (SACH) at the University of Houston (UH). She is also a Fellow of the HEALTH Research Institute at UH. The overarching focus of her research is understanding the interactions between emotional/behavioral health and sleep across the life span to inform prevention and intervention efforts. She is particularly interested in sleep health in marginalized populations, including children in foster care, and whether improving the quality of children’s sleep might buffer against a range of potential negative outcomes. These interests stem in part from her own experiences as a foster parent.
Dr. Alfano has served as Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI on grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DoD) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She has served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Behavioral Sleep Medicine (SBSM) and the Scientific Council of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). She has published more than 100 scientific papers, chapters, and books, and is passionate about mentoring the next generation of behavioral sleep scientists.