Hans P. A. Van Dongen, PhD
Research Professor
Washington State University
Biography
Hans Van Dongen, a widely recognized scientist in the area of sleep and performance, manages the human sleep research laboratory of the Sleep and Performance Research Center.
Dr. Van Dongen has considerable experience conducting laboratory research, and a track record of experimental and theoretical contributions to sleep research. He headed studies funded by a number of government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and NASA.
Dr. Van Dongen's research portfolio is broad, including two particular focus areas in which he is recognized as an international leader. The first involves inter-individual differences in cognitive impairment resulting from sleep deprivation, which he showed to constitute a human phenotype. The second is mathematical and statistical modeling of performance impairment due to fatigue.
This research has important implications for everyone who occasionally or routinely loses sleep, whether due to occupational demands, medical conditions, or life style.
Dr. Van Dongen holds a Master's degree in astrophysics and a PhD degree in chronobiology and sleep from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He is the author of many peer-reviewed journal articles and serves as associate editor of SLEEP, the top journal in the field of sleep research.