ken_wright_photo
Professor of Distinction • Graduate Affairs Associate Chair
Integrative Physiology

Office: Clare 112
Fax: 303-492-4009

Research Interests

  • Health and safety consequences of insufficient sleep and circadian misalignment. Development of countermeasures and treatments for sleep and circadian disruption to improve public health and safety.
  • Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory.

Education

  • 1986-1990, B.S. (Psychology), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
  • 1991-1994, M.A., (Behavioral Neuroscience/Psychology) Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
  • 1994-1996, Ph.D. (Behavioral Neuroscience/Psychology) Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH

Professional Experience

  • 1989-1991, Research Assistant in Psychology, Sleep and Cognition Unit, Psychology Department, University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ. Director, Richard R. Bootzin, Ph.D.
  • 1995-1997, Post-doctoral Faculty Fellow, Behavioral Neuroscience/Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, Psychology Department, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH. Director, Pietro Badia, Ph.D.
  • 1997-2000, Research Fellow in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Circadian, Neuroendocrine and Sleep Disorders Section, Brigham and WomenÌs Hospital, Boston, MA. Director, Charles A. Czeisler, Ph.D., M.D.
  • 2000-2001, Associate Neuroscientist, Division of Endocrinology, Circadian, Neuroendocrine and Sleep Disorders Section, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
  • 2000-2002, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
  • 2001-2002, Associate Neuroscientist, Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and WomenÌs Hospital, Boston, MA.
  • 2001-2002, Director, Fatigue Countermeasures Research Program, Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and WomenÌs Hospital, Boston, MA.
  • 2002-2003, Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology & Applied Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
  • 2003-2009, Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
  • 2009-2015, Adjunct Associate Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, CO.
  • 2009-2015, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
  • 2015- Adjunct Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, CO.
  • 2015- Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
  • 2019- Professor of Distinction, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.

Honors and Awards

  • 1996, Charles E. Shanklin Award for Research Excellence of the Bowling Green State University.
  • 1997-2000, National Research Service Award (T32) - National Institutes of Health.
  • 1998-2000, Distinction in Teaching; Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning; Harvard University.
  • 1999-2001, Fellowship in Clinical and Community Health Research The Medical Foundation and Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust.
  • 2000, Young Investigator Award, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Honorable mention.
  • 2003, Young Investigator, William C. Dement Sleep and Chronobiology Apprenticeship, Brown University.
  • 2005, J. Christian Gillin, M.D. Research Award, Sleep Research Society Foundation.
  • 2007, Distinguished Service Award, Sleep Research Society.
  • 2007, Marinus Smith Award, University of Colorado Parents Association.
  • 2013, Provost's Faculty Achievement Award, University of Colorado Boulder.
  • ​2018, Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Award for Research, Scholarly and Creative Work – University of Colorado Boulder.
  • 2019  Integrative Physiology Faculty Excellence in Research – University of Colorado Boulder
  • 2022  Mary A. Carskadon Outstanding Educator Award, Sleep Research Society

Recent Publications

  • Chaput JP, McHill AW, Cox RC, Broussard JL, Dutil C, da Costa BGG, Sampasa- Kanyinga H, Wright Jr KP. The role of insufficient sleep and circadian misalignment in obesity. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2022 Oct 24. doi: 10.1038/s41574-022-00747-7.
  • Wang W, Yuan RK, Mitchell J, Zitting KM, St. Hilaire MA,  Wyatt JK, Scheer AJL, Wright Jr KP, Brown EN, Ronda JM, Klerman EB, Duffy JF, Dijk DJ, Czeisler CA. Using Kleitman’s forced desynchrony protocol to 2 assess the intrinsic period of circadian oscillators and estimate the contributions of the circadian pacemaker and the sleep–wake homeostat to physiology and behavior in clinical research.  Nature Protocols (In Press).
  • Fritz J, Huang T, Depner CM, Zeleznik OA, Cespedes Feliciano EM, Li W, Stone KL, Manson JE, Clish C, Sofer T, Schernhammer E, Rexrode K, Redline S, Wright Jr KP, Vetter C. Sleep duration, plasma metabolites, and obesity and diabetes: A metabolome-wide association study in US women. Sleep (In Press)
  • Rynders CA, Bowen AE, Cooper E, Brinton JT, Higgins J, Nadeau KJ, Wright KP Jr, Simon SL. A Naturalistic Actigraphic Assessment of Changes in Adolescent Sleep, Light Exposure, and Activity Before and During COVID-19. J Biol Rhythms. 2022 Sep 20:7487304221123455. doi: 10.1177/07487304221123455.
  • Gauglitz JM, West KA, Bittremieux W, Williams CL, Weldon KC, Panitchpakdi M, Di Ottavio F, Aceves CM, Brown E, Sikora NC, Jarmusch AK, Martino C, Tripathi A, Meehan MJ, Dorrestein K, Shaffer JP, Coras R, Vargas F, Goldasich LD, Schwartz T, Bryant M, Humphrey G, Johnson AJ, Spengler K, Belda-Ferre P, Diaz E, McDonald D, Zhu Q, Elijah EO, Wang M, Marotz C, Sprecher KE, Vargas-Robles D, Withrow D, Ackermann G, Herrera L, Bradford BJ, Marques LMM, Amaral JG, Silva RM, Veras FP, Cunha TM, Oliveira RDR, Louzada-Junior P, Mills RH, Piotrowski PK, Servetas SL, Da Silva SM, Jones CM, Lin NJ, Lippa KA, Jackson SA, Daouk RK, Galasko D, Dulai PS, Kalashnikova TI, Wittenberg C, Terkeltaub R, Doty MM, Kim JH, Rhee KE, Beauchamp-Walters J, Wright KP Jr, Dominguez-Bello MG, Manary M, Oliveira MF, Boland BS, Lopes NP, Guma M, Swafford AD, Dutton RJ, Knight R, Dorrestein PC.W Enhancing untargeted metabolomics using metadata-based source annotation. Nat Biotechnol. 2022 Jul 7. doi: 10.1038/s41587-022-01368-1.
  • Silva CM, Teixeira BS, Wright KP Jr, Maia YCP, Crispim CA. Time-Related Eating Patterns Are Associated with the Total Daily Intake of Calories and Macronutrients in Day and Night Shift Workers. Nutrients. 2022 May 25;14(11):2202. doi: 10.3390/nu14112202.
  • Bowers SJ, Summa KC, Thompson RS, González A, Vargas F, Olker C, Jiang P, Lowry CA, Dorrestein PC, Knight R, Wright KP Jr, Fleshner M, Turek FW, Vitaterna MH. A Prebiotic Diet Alters the Fecal Microbiome and Improves Sleep in Response to Sleep Disruption in Rats. Front Neurosci. 2022 May 24;16:889211. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.889211. eCollection 2022.
  • Wong SD, Wright KP Jr, Spencer RL, Vetter C, Hicks LM, Jenni OG, LeBourgeois MK. Development of the circadian system in early life: maternal and environmental factors. J Physiol Anthropol. 2022 May 16;41(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s40101-022-00294-0.
  • Hartstein LE, Wright KP Jr, Akacem LD, Diniz Behn C, LeBourgeois MK. Evidence of circalunar rhythmicity in young children's evening melatonin levels. J Sleep Res. 2022 May 14:e13635. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13635.
  • Brown TM, Brainard GC, Cajochen C, Czeisler CA, Hanifin JP, Lockley SW, Lucas RJ, Münch M, O'Hagan JB, Peirson SN, Price LLA, Roenneberg T, Schlangen LJM, Skene DJ, Spitschan M, Vetter C, Zee PC, Wright KP Jr. Recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLoS Biol. 2022 Mar 17;20(3):e3001571. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001571
  • Swanson CM, Shanbhag P, Tussey EJ, Rynders CA, Wright KP Jr, Kohrt WM. Bone Turnover Markers After Six Nights of Insufficient Sleep and Subsequent Recovery Sleep in Healthy Men. Calcif Tissue Int. 2022 Feb 8. doi: 10.1007/s00223-022-00950-8. Online ahead of print.
  • Hartstein LE, Behn CD, Akacem LD, Stack N, Wright KP Jr, LeBourgeois MK. High sensitivity of melatonin suppression response to evening light in preschool-aged children. J Pineal Res. 2022 Mar;72(2):e12780. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12780. Epub 2022 Jan 8.