Erin C. Hanlon, PhD. is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the University of Chicago. As a behavioral neuroscientist, she is interested in the relationship between behavior, brain mechanisms, and physiology that may impact human health. She has extensive experience administering and analyzing behavioral tasks, polysomnography, and metabolic measures in both rodent and human models.

Her primary research interests include the detrimental effects of sleep loss and how sleep benefits health. In particular, her focus is on the effect of sleep restriction on brain reward and feeding systems as well as peripheral metabolic systems in both rodent and human models.

To that end, Dr. Hanlon has identified that circulating levels of ligands of the endocannabinoid system are affected by circadian rhythmicity. Further, she has demonstrated alterations in this rhythmicity following sleep restriction in non-obese individuals. This work reveals a novel mechanistic pathway linking sleep disturbances and the risk of obesity, a topic of major public interest.