Ketema Paul

Ketema Paul is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After completing his Ph.D. in Biology at Georgia State University, he conducted postdoctoral research at Northwestern University's Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology and held a faculty position at Morehouse School of Medicine before joining UCLA in 2016.

• Education: B.S. in Biology from Howard University (1994), Ph.D. in Biology from Georgia State University (2003)

His research focuses on the neural, genetic, and hormonal regulation of sleep, with three primary areas: sex differences in sleep mechanisms, circadian molecules' role in recovery from sleep loss, and genetic heterogeneity in resilience to sleep deprivation. His lab uses forward genetics in mice and examines circadian gene expression in Alzheimer’s Disease patients' blood cells.

Recent publications highlight his interest in sleep's interaction with stress resilience, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s), muscle physiology, and genetic models of Huntington’s Disease and Dup15q syndrome. Collaborations span neuroscience, nutrition, and chronobiology fields.

He maintains an active research program at the UCLA Paul Lab, with a focus on identifying novel sleep-regulatory genes and therapeutic targets for sleep disorders.