FEATURED MEMBER- CAROLYN IEVERS-LANDIS, PHD, CBSM

Dr Ievers-Landis is a licensed clinical psychologist and Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics and Psychology at Rainbow Babies and Children’s (RB&C) Hospital, University Hospitals at Cleveland Medical Center, and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Department of Psychological Sciences. 

She completed internship training at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and post-doctoral training at Emory University School of Medicine.  

Dr. Ievers-Landis has been awarded National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding as a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on multiple projects relating to children’s health and has published more than 60 articles in scholarly journals and book chapters.  

Clinically, at RB&C Hospital and its satellite clinics Dr. Ievers-Landis provides therapy for families of infants, children, adolescents and emerging adults with sleep disorders such as insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, nightmares, etc.  

She also provides therapy for patients with obesity (including those with Prader Willi Syndrome) and adjustment/treatment-adherence issues related to other chronic medical onditions (e.g., cystic fibrosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome).  Dr. Ievers-Landis is an Associate Editor for two journals, the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics (JDBP) and Children's Health Care, and has been the Co-Guest Editor of special issues on pediatric sleep for both of these journals.

How did you decide to specialize in behavioral sleep medicine (what got you started, who did you decide to work with along the way)?

I first was involved in sleep research with Susan Redline, M.D. as part of the Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC) initiative through the National Cancer Institute.  I then began working clinically in behavioral sleep medicine with Carol Rosen, M.D. in 2008.  

Since then I consider sleep to be among my top research and clinical areas and feel so fortunate for the mentorship of Drs. Redline and Rosen.  
I supervise graduate students in Sleep Clinic, and my current student is Marco Hartmann.

What is your advice to graduate students, early career individuals, or those respecializing into behavioral sleep medicine?

I would encourage those who are considering specializing in pediatric sleep to get broad training in pediatric psychology because there are so many of our patients who have co-morbid medical as well as psychological disorders.

Making certain to take graduate-level coursework in pediatric psychology or health psychology and doing as many placements as possible during graduate school and internship is particularly important.  

Shadowing experts in behavioral sleep medicine, both M.D.'s and Ph.D.'s, is immensely helpful.  Remember that there are many sleep research experiences available - reach out to researchers at other sites as needed to collaborate on projects of mutual interest.

What is the next step that you plan on taking either in your research program or clinical practice?

I plan to write a clinician's guide for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia with Dr. Rosen and to pursue research in the areas of sleep and pediatric obesity (particularly dietary intake and eating behaviors) and narcolepsy and psychological functioning.