Suzanne Michele Bertisch

Suzanne Michele Bertisch, M.D. serves as Associate Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she leads research at the intersection of sleep medicine, pain management, and cardiometabolic health. Her work focuses on adapting sleep health interventions to diverse community and clinical populations, with particular emphasis on insomnia treatment and the relationship between sleep disorders and chronic conditions.

Dr. Bertisch's research employs epidemiologic, clinical, qualitative, and laboratory methods to investigate conventional and alternative treatments for sleep disorders. Her work examines national patterns of insomnia treatment, implements behavioral therapy for insomnia in primary care settings, and explores the impact of sleep disorders on pain and cardiometabolic health. She has published extensively on sleep interventions for patients with chronic diseases like migraine and has contributed significantly to understanding sleep health in underserved communities.

Her recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate continued leadership in sleep medicine research, with studies spanning neuroimaging of sleep patterns, digital therapeutics for insomnia, sleep disruptions in hospitalized older adults, and the relationship between sleep apnea and diabetes. Her work frequently appears in high-impact journals including Sleep, JAMA Network Open, and Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, reflecting her contributions to both clinical practice and scientific understanding in the field.

Scientific Awards:

• 2014 Scientific Abstract Award
• 2014 Wayne Hening Young Investigator Award
• 2015 Insomnia Section Investigator Award

Dr. Bertisch serves as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH and PCORI-funded research projects, including a major PCORI study (2025-2030) comparing digital therapy, trazodone, and daridorexant for menopause-related insomnia symptoms, and an NIH R33 grant evaluating behavioral treatments for insomnia in socioeconomically disadvantaged adults. She collaborates extensively with researchers across institutions, particularly with Dr. Susan Redline and other prominent sleep medicine investigators.

Her research team focuses on translating sleep science into practical clinical applications, with particular attention to improving diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders in primary care settings and addressing health disparities in sleep medicine.