Amita Sehgal

Amita Sehgal, Ph.D. is the John Herr Musser Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, where she serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Director of the Chronobiology Program. She is a member of the Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology and affiliated with graduate groups in Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Biology.

Education:

• B.S., Delhi University (1980)
• M.S., Jawaharlal Nehru University (1982)
• Ph.D., Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Cornell University (1988, Adviser: Moses Chao)

Her research focuses on the molecular basis of behavior, particularly circadian rhythms and sleep regulation. Using Drosophila and mammalian models, her lab investigates:

• Core mechanisms of circadian clocks (e.g., timeless gene discovery)
• Neural circuits driving rest-activity rhythms
• Genetic and metabolic regulation of sleep homeostasis
• Interactions between circadian systems, metabolism, and aging

Recent publications emphasize circadian-sleep interactions, mitochondrial function, glial roles, and metabolic influences on behavior. Her work has global impact via the Drosophila sleep model adopted worldwide.

Scientific Awards & Recognition:

• Featured in STAT News, NPR, The Atlantic, and Science Magazine
• Pioneering discovery of the timeless clock gene
• Key contributions to circadian clock-autoregulatory loops
• Development of foundational Drosophila sleep research methodologies

Dr. Sehgal's lab collaborates with the Penn Chronobiology & Sleep Institute and HHMI. Her research has received attention for linking sleep to immune function (e.g., nemuri gene studies) and uncovering cellular mechanisms for circadian regulation.