Candice A. Alfano

Candice A. Alfano is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Sleep and Anxiety Center of Houston (SACH) at the University of Houston's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. A licensed clinical psychologist and Diplomate in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, she leads research at the intersection of sleep, emotional health, and psychiatric risk across the lifespan.

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park (2005)
• Clinical Internship and Post-doctoral Fellowship, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Dr. Alfano's research centers on how sleep disruptions interact with emotional and behavioral health to increase psychiatric vulnerability, with special focus on children and high-risk populations. She develops trauma-informed interventions like the SAFE program for foster children, examining how sleep interventions can buffer mental health risks through experimental and longitudinal methodologies.

Her publication record reveals consistent focus on developmental psychopathology, with recent work emphasizing screen media effects on pediatric sleep, emotion regulation mechanisms, and foster care system interventions. This trajectory demonstrates growing translational emphasis from basic mechanisms to real-world applications in vulnerable populations.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• 2022 Texas Citizen Psychologist Presidential Citation (Texas Psychological Association)
• Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS)
• Fellow of the HEALTH Research Institute at UH

As an active mentor, she reviews graduate applications annually (deadline December 1) and secures major funding from NIH, NSF, DoD, and NASA. Current projects include NICHD-funded screen media studies and NIMH-supported SAFE intervention trials. She directs SACH, which collaborates with the International Pediatric Sleep Association and Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine to advance pediatric sleep research and clinical practice.