Sara C. Mednick

Biography

Sara C. Mednick, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. A scholar in the field of sleep and cognition, Mednick has spent over two decades studying the psychological and neural mechanisms of sleep-dependent memory consolidation, with particular focus on REM sleep, autonomic nervous system activity during sleep, and the cognitive benefits of daytime napping across different populations.

Mednick has made contributions to understanding memory consolidation during sleep through pharmacological and neuroimaging approaches. Her laboratory identified novel autonomic-central coupling events during sleep that predict memory processing and established a causal role for sleep spindles in hippocampal-dependent memory consolidation through pharmacological intervention studies. Her recent work has introduced the REM Refine and Rescue Hypothesis, a comprehensive theory integrating diverse findings about REM sleep's role in memory consolidation, and identified REM burst events in human scalp EEG that predict behavioral outcomes. Her research extends to special populations, including studies of sex hormone effects on sleep-dependent memory across the menstrual cycle and lifespan, and the development of precision medicine approaches using AI-driven causal modeling from personalized data for clinical interventions.

Mednick has published over 100 scholarly papers and authored two books. She has received continuous federal funding from NIH, NSF, and the Department of Defense, including the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Prize. She received a Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University.

Education

• B.A. in Drama/Dance, Bard College, 1994
• B.A. in Year Abroad, Charles University, 1993
• Ph.D. in Psychology, Harvard University, 2003

Distinctions

• Invited speakers at National Academy of Sciences, Irvine CA, 2008
• Department of Defense, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Prize, 2015
• University of Sydney, Visiting Scholar Award, 2013
• UCI Chancellor's Teaching Award, 2020-2021
• APSS conference abstract excellence award, 2006
• Dean's Award for Outstanding Teaching Innovation, 2023
• Society for Research Fellows Speaker Award, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 2004
• University of California, Riverside Academic Senate Regents Award, 2012-2013
• University of California, San Diego Academic Senate Award, 2008-2009