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Adam P. Spira, PhD

Adam P. Spira
  • Professor

Departmental Affiliations

Center & Institute Affiliations

Contact Information

624 N. Broadway
Hampton House 794
Baltimore, Maryland 21205

410-614-9498
410-614-7469

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Education

PhD, West Virginia University, 2004
MA, West Virginia University, 2001
BA, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1998

Overview

Adam Spira is Professor and Vice Chair for Research and Faculty in the Department of Mental Health. His research is focused on: 1) disturbed sleep as a risk factor for poor health outcomes in older adults, including cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers, and functional decline; and 2) psychopathology and its links with both sleep and cognition in older people.

Honors and Awards

Advising, Mentoring, and Teaching Recognition Award (AMTRA), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Student Assembly, May 2018

Fellow, Gerontological Society of America, Behavioral and Social Sciences Section, May 2015

Insomnia Section Investigator Award, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, June 2013

Advising, Mentoring, and Teaching Recognition Award (AMTRA), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Student Assembly, May 2013

Barry Lebowitz Early Career Scientist Award, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, March 2013

International Junior Investigator Award, International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology, June 2009

JHSPH Faculty Innovation Fund Award, 2009-2010

Licensed psychologist in Maryland (# 04619, expires 03/31/2021)

Admitted to National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program, July 2007

Completed National Institute of Mental Health Summer Research Institute in Geriatric Psychiatry, July 2005

Higher Education Research Fund Fellowship, West Virginia University, 2002, 1999

Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, State University of New York at Stony Brook, June 1998

  • Aging
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Cognitive decline
  • Functional decline
  • Anxiety
  • Depression

Recent publications:

  • Gallo, J. J., Hwang, S., Truong, C., Reynolds, C. F., & Spira, A. P. (2020). Role of persistent and worsening sleep disturbance in depression remission and suicidal ideation among older primary care patients: The PROSPECT Study. SLEEP. Epub ahead of print: April 2.
  • Owusu, J. T., Doty, S. B., Adjaye-Gbewonyo, D, Bass, J. K., Wilcox, H. C., Gallo, J. J., & Spira, A. P. (2020). Association of sleep characteristics with suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among adults aged 50 and older with depressive symptoms in low- and middle-income countries. Sleep Health, 6(1), 92-99.
  • Munro, C. A., Wennberg, A. M. V., Bienko, N., Eaton, W. W., Lyketsos, C. G., & Spira, A. P. (2019). Stressful life events and cognitive decline: Sex differences in the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Follow-Up. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 34(7), 1008-1017.
  • Spira, A. P., An, Y., Wu, M. N., Owusu, J. T., Simonsick, E. M., Bilgel, M., Ferrucci, L., Wong, D. F., & Resnick, S. M. (2018). Excessive daytime sleepiness and napping in cognitively normal adults: Associations with subsequent amyloid deposition measured by PiB PET. SLEEP, 41(10).
  • Spira, A. P., An, Y., Peng, Y., Wu, M. N., Simonsick, E. M., Ferrucci, L., & Resnick, S. M. (2017). APOE genotype and non-respiratory sleep parameters in cognitively intact older adults. SLEEP, 40(8).
  • Energy Expenditure, Physical Activity, and Alzheimer's Disease in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
  • Stress, Mental Disorders, Accelerated Aging, and Dementia: a 35-year Cohort Study (U01AG052445; MPIs: A. P. Spira & W. W. Eaton)
  • The ARIC Study of Midlife Sleep and Late-Life Brain Amyloid (RF1AG050745; MPIs: A. P. Spira & R. F. Gottesman)

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