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Beth Ann Malow serves as director of Vanderbilt’s Sleep Division and Sleep Research Core. She also serves as the Associate Director of Vanderbilt’s Clinical Research Center, and as Principal Investigator (PI) for two networks related to neuropsychiatric disease: Vanderbilt’s Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network (AS ATN) and Vanderbilt's Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT). In addition, she served as principal investigator on an NIH/NINDS Multi-Center Pilot Clinical Trial examining the effects of treating obstructive sleep apnea on seizure frequency, daytime sleepiness, and health-related quality of life in adults with epilepsy, and also as principal investigator on an NIH/NICHD trial of melatonin for insomnia in children with autism. As a member of Vanderbilt’s faculty, her administrative responsibilities include establishing and directing (1) An expanding sleep disorders division; (2) A multidisciplinary sleep center accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, which includes neurology, pulmonary, and pediatric sleep clinics as well as two hotel based sleep centers; and (3) An ACGME-accredited fellowship program in sleep medicine.

Education & Academic Career
Malow graduated from W. Tresper Clarke High School in 1980 and then attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois from 1980 to 1986. She received her B.S. degree in 1984 and her M.D. in 1986. After completing a six year Honors program in Medical Education, Malow completed her medical internship in New York. From 1986-87, Malow worked as a research associate in the Burke Rehabilitation Center in White Plains, New York. Next, Malow worked in the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York from 1987-88. Following the medical internship was her residency in the Harvard-Longwood Neurological Training Program in Boston from 1988-91. From 1991-94 Malow was involved in Epilepsy Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD. In 1995, Malow worked as an assistant professor of Neurology at the University of Michigan. At the same time, she was working toward an M.S. degree in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis which she obtained in 1997. In June 2003, Malow moved to Nashville, TN to work at Vanderbilt University where she continues to work as an associate professor in the Department of Neurology. In addition to serving as an associate professor, Malow is also involved in multiple research projects.

Scientific Mentors
As an epilepsy fellow, Malow attended a lecture on sleep presented by Dr. Charlotte McCutchen at the NIH. At the time, Malow was primarily researching epilepsy. During her lecture, McCutchen mentioned how entering rapid eye movement (REM) sleep can markedly attenuate epileptic discharges. Malow was fascinated by this and believed that if you could isolate the processes that occur during REM sleep, you may be able to apply these processes to the treatment of epilepsy. McCutchen’s lecture is what inspired Malow to shift her focus from epilepsy to epilepsy and sleep, which led to her involvement in the field of sleep medicine. Malow has also been very grateful to Dr. Robert MacDonald, Professor and Chair of Neurology at Vanderbilt University, for his ongoing mentorship and flexibility with regards to her research.

Research
Malow’s clinical, educational, and research programs focus on the impact of treating sleep disorders on neurological disease. In the past, her research has focused on the connection between sleep and epilepsy. More recently, she has studied sleep, autism, and related disorders of neurodevelopment. In addition, Malow and her collaborators have studied sleep as it relates to medical disorders, including diabetes, pulmonary disease, and cancer, as well as aspects of sleep medicine related to genetics and circadian biology. She also states that her work in teaching parents how they can help their children sleep is one of her proudest projects. These programs target underserved populations and are designed to be affordable and easily accessible.

Early Work in Neurology
Malow started her scientific career at a Neurological Training Program at Harvard where she published her first journal articles. Her first published paper was “Cultured cells as a screen for novel treatments of Alzheimer's disease” in 1989 where she explored the use of patient derived fibroblasts to look for certain pathological markers present in Alzheimer’s patients. Her work in neurology continued with research into MRI lesions and neuralgic amyotrophy until 1991.

Epilepsy
In 1993 she published her first article on epilepsy. This first article on epilepsy would shape her research for the next quarter century, publishing in excess of 80 articles on the subject. For the next several years Malow would research epilepsy, specifically various aspects of the psychopharmacology at the time. While studying epilepsy she became interested in sleep due to a lecture about REM where she first realized the connection between certain processes that occur during both REM and epilepsy.

Epilepsy & Sleep
Malow took this connection and has spent the better part of her career studying the relationship between sleep and epilepsy. She found that sleep attacks mimic epileptic seizures, hippocampal spindles and epileptiform discharges may share a neurophysiological mechanism, and many other interesting connections.

In the early 2000s, also Malow began investigating sleep apnea as well as sleep disorders among epileptics and the general population. She published several papers on the use of vagus nerve stimulation and CPAP as methods of treating various sleep related pathologies. During this time she also published her most cited article which linked the occurence of sleep apnea with epilepsy.

While still working on sleep, sleep apnea, and epilepsy, Malow transitioned to investigating the sleep of children on the autism spectrum disorder, both studying it from a clinical perspective and trying to develop treatments. During this time she developed her pharmacological and behavioral approach to dealing with sleep-related disorders.

Current Research
Currently Malow has been studying sleep in children and adolescents with various conditions including Type 1 diabetes, postural tachycardia, Pseudohypoparathyroidism Type 1a, various neurodevelopmental disorders, but still maintaining a strong focus on those with autism spectrum disorder.

Contributions to Science
Malow is the director of Vanderbilt’s Sleep Division and Sleep Research Core. She has written 90 peer-reviewed publications focusing on a range of topics from sleep behaviors in autism spectrum disorders to treating sleep apnea in adults with epilepsy. She is also the principal investigator for Vanderbilt’s Autism Treatment Network site, which develops standards of medical care for children with autism. Malow has also taken an active role in Tennessee’s political sphere. Since 2015, she has served on the Council on Children and Youth as well as the Tennessee Legislative Task Forces on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Malow is also co-author of a book called Solving Sleep Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Guide for Frazzled Families. This empathetic guide helps parents identify and ameliorate problems caused by sleep complications in their children and aims to improve quality of life through active intervention.

One of Malow’s largest contributions to science was her work on a melatonin dose response trial, showing that the majority of the population responds well to melatonin. This ultimately demonstrated that melatonin was safe to take and had no impact on hormone levels in the body.

Additionally, Malow was part of a consensus statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in which they conducted a large literature review of over 800 articles from a variety of fields. They concluded that children between 6 and 12 years old should sleep 9 to 12 hours a night to promote optimal health. The statement also recommended that teenagers between 13 and 18 should sleep 8 to 10 hours per night. Sleeping this recommended amount of hours is associated with better health outcomes like improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, and more. Because of this, Malow has been a strong advocate for later start times in Williamson County public schools and has successfully pushed back the start time of Davidson County public schools. Malow is particularly proud of her work in policy, as she feels that by working in policy she can affect many more lives than she could in research or in clinic.

Malow feels that her largest contribution to science is being able to use behavioral strategies to treat sleep disorders in children with autism. She views herself as a connector in that she has been able to take aspects of different fields and bring them together to effectively treat patients. Lastly, she views herself as a model for others and as a leader who can get people behind a cause as seen in her efforts to delay start times in Williamson County Schools.

Clinical Work
In addition to her academic responsibilities and scientific research, Beth Malow maintains an active role in the clinical aspect of her field. Malow’s patient care emphasis is sleep disorders, meaning she focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of sleep related conditions. She treats a diverse range of sleep disorders, the most common of which include insomnia and sleep apnea. As a physician, Malow’s specializations include neurology, pediatric neurology, and sleep medicine. As a result she sees patients of all ages. Because Malow’s research focuses on sleep and autism, she also sees autistic patients.

Malow employs a variety of methods when treating sleep disorders. Some treatments include behavioral, sensory, and pharmacological therapies. Sensory therapies encompass actions used to relax the mind through one of the five senses. Listening to music, using a weighted blanket, chewing gum, burning incense, and using a night light are just a few examples of sensory strategies aimed at improving sleep efficiency. Behavioral treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy include changing unwanted behavioral patterns by teaching patients how to better approach challenging situations. Malow believes this is one of the most helpful techniques that can be used to treat sleep disorders because the effects are typically longer lasting than medications and are also self-reliant. Pharmacological therapies are used when other strategies are not as effective. Pharmacological treatments usually involve the prescription of sleep medications.

A common medication used to treat insomnia is Ambien (Zolpidem Tartrate) but there are many other sleep aids that can be used depending on the specific disorder that is being treated. Insomnia is comorbid with many conditions, a few being asthma, heart disease, and epilepsy, so as a physician, a large part of Malow’s clinical work involves diagnosing patients accurately and treating them as effectively as possible. Other medical treatments such as machine aids or surgeries can also be used to treat sleep disorders. One method that can be used to treat sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). In this method, a mask is placed over the mouth and/or nose of the patient and lightly pressurized air produced by the machine prevents their airway from collapsing or being obstructed while they sleep. Children and adults sometimes undergo adenotonsillectomy surgery in order to treat sleep apnea but Malow observes that CPAP tends to be more common.

Malow approximates that 20% of her work is clinical while 10% is administrative (i.e. teaching and lecturing) and 70% is research-oriented.

Positions
Malow has held multiple positions in academia:


 * 1986-1987: Research Associate, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, Cornell University, White Plains, New York
 * 1987-1988: Intern, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, New York
 * 1988-1991: Resident, Harvard-Longwood Neurological Training Program, Boston, Massachusetts
 * 1991-1994: Postdoctoral Fellow, Clinical Neurophysiology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
 * 1994-2001: Assistant Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, University of Michigan
 * 2001-2003: Associate Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (with tenure)
 * 2003-2008: Associate Professor of Neurology and Division Chief, Sleep Disorders, Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee (with tenure)
 * 2007–Present: Professor of Neurology and Division Chief, Sleep Disorders, Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee (with tenure)
 * 2003–Present: Medical Director, Vanderbilt Sleep Disorders Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
 * 2003–Present: Investigator, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
 * 2004–Present: Associate Director, Vanderbilt Clinical Research Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville,Tennessee
 * 2005–Present: Director, Vanderbilt Sleep Research Core, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
 * 2010–Present: Professor of Pediatrics (Secondary Appointment)
 * 2011–Present: Burry Chair in Cognitive Childhood Development, Department of Pediatrics

Honors and Awards
Malow has also been a member of many scientific communities, the most recent are listed below


 * 1985: Alpha Omega Alpha, Northwestern University
 * 2002: Elected Member, American Neurological Association (ANA)
 * 2007, 09, 10: Professional Research Consultants (PRC) Five Star Customer Service Award for Excellence in Quality of Physician Care (top 10% of physicians nationally)
 * 2008: Health Care Provider Award, Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities
 * 2009: Pfizer Visiting Professorship in Neurology
 * 2010: Robert Haslam Lectureship in Pediatrics, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
 * 2012: Sleep Science Award, American Academy of Neurology

Selected Publications
Malow BA, Marzec ML, McGrew SG, Wang L, Henderson LM, Stone WL. Characterizing sleep in children with autism spectrum disorders: A multidimensional approach. SLEEP 2006;29(12): 1563- 1571.

McGrew SG, Malow BA, Henderson L, Wang L, Song Y, Stone WL. A developmental and behavioral questionnaire for autism spectrum disorders. Pediatric Neurology 2007; 37(2): 108-116.

Malow BA, Foldvary-Schaefer N, Vaughn BV, Selwa LM, Chervin RD, Weatherwax KJ, Wang L, Song, Y. Treating obstructive sleep apnea in adults with epilepsy: A randomized pilot trial. Neurology 2008; 71(8):572-7.

Andersen IM, Kaczmarska J, McGrew SG, Malow BA. Melatonin for insomnia in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Child Neurology 2008; 23(5): 482-5.

Malow BA, Crowe C, Henderson L, McGrew S, Wang L, Song Y, Stone WL. A Sleep habits questionnaire for children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Child Neurology 2009; 24(1):19- 24.

Reed HE, McGrew SG, Artibee K, Surdyka K, Goldman SE, Frank K, Wang L, Malow BA. Parentbased sleep education workshops in autism. Journal of Child Neurology 2009;24(8):936-45. PMC3786206

Goldman SE, Surdyka K, Cuevas R, Adkins K, Wang L, Malow BA. Defining the sleep phenotype in children with autism. Dev Neuropsychol. 2009 Sep;34(5):560-73. PMC2946240

Leu RM, Beyderman L, Botzolakis EJ, Surdyka K, Wang L, Malow BA. Relation of melatonin to sleep architecture in children with autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 2010 Aug 4. PMC3746009

Goldman SE, Richdale AL, Clemons T, and Malow BA. Sleep behaviors in autism spectrum disorders – Variations in age from early childhood through adolescence. J Autism Dev Disord. 2012 42(4): 531-538.

Malow BA, Adkins KW, McGrew SG, Wang L, Goldman SE, Fawkes D, Burnette C. Melatonin for sleep in children with autism: A controlled trial examining dose, tolerability, and outcomes. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 2012;42(8):1729-1737. ; PMC3368078

Malow BA, Byars K, Johnson K, Weiss S, Bernal P, Goldman SE, Panzer R, Coury D, Glaze DG. A practice pathway for the identification, evaluation and management of insomnia in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics. 2012;130 Suppl 2:S106-24.

Adkins KW, Molloy C, Weiss SK, Reynolds A, Goldman SE, Burnette C, Clemons T, Fawkes D, Malow BA. Effects of a standardized pamphlet on insomnia in children with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics 2012; 130 Suppl 2:S139-44.

Robinson AA, Malow BA. Gabapentin shows promise in treating refractory insomnia in children. J Child Neurol 2012 Oct 30 [Epub ahead of print.]

Malow BA, Adkins KW, Reynolds A, Weiss SK, Loh A, Fawkes D, Katz T, Goldman SE, PhD, Madduri N, Hundley R, Clemons T. Parent-based sleep education for children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 2014; 44(1):216-28.

Fawkes DB, Malow BA, Weiss SK, Reynolds A, Loh A, Adkins K, Wofford D, Wyatt AD, Goldman SE. Conducting actigraphy research in children with neurodevelopmental disorders-A practical approach. Behavioral Sleep Medicine 12:1–16.