Erin C. Hanlon

Erin C. Hanlon, PhD is currently a research assistant professor in the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the University of Chicago. As a behavioral neuroscientist, she is interested in the relationship between behavior, brain mechanisms, and physiology that may impact human health. She has extensive experience administering and analyzing behavioral tasks, polysomnography, and metabolic measures in both rodent and human models.

Her primary research interests include the detrimental effects of sleep loss and how sleep benefits health. In particular, her focus is on the effect of sleep restriction on brain reward and feeding systems as well as peripheral metabolic systems in both rodent and human models.

Asst. Prof. Hanlon has identified that circulating levels of ligands of the endocannabinoid system are affected by circadian rhythmicity. In a topic of major public interest, she found a novel mechanistic pathway involving the endocannabinoid system, linking sleep disturbances and the risk of obesity. Further, she demonstrated that obese individuals have a misaligned endocannabinoid rhythm, suggesting that circadian disruption in the endocannabinoid system may contribute to the pathophysiology of obesity.