Division Leadership
Chief of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, supporting clinical growth, faculty development, research strategy, and multidisciplinary care.
Sleep • Pulmonary Medicine • Clinical Trials • Health Equity
Advancing sleep and respiratory health through science, collaboration, and implementation.
Sairam Parthasarathy, MD, is a physician-scientist and academic leader at the University of Arizona whose work spans sleep medicine, pulmonary and critical care, pragmatic clinical trials, Long COVID, digital health, and implementation science.
$60M+Research portfolio led or supported
2,400Participants in major pragmatic sleep trial
NationalLeadership in sleep and Long COVID research
About
Building programs that connect discovery, clinical care, and population impact.
Dr. Parthasarathy is an academic physician and investigator whose work focuses on improving outcomes for patients with sleep and respiratory disorders. His research integrates clinical epidemiology, patient-centered outcomes, pragmatic trials, implementation science, digital health, and biomarker discovery.
He has led interdisciplinary programs in obstructive sleep apnea, Long COVID, sleep health equity, and care delivery innovation. His approach emphasizes rigorous science, multisite collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and the translation of evidence into real-world practice.
Leadership
Academic and institutional leadership
Center Building
Founding Director of the University of Arizona Center for Sleep, Circadian & Neurosciences Research, connecting investigators across health sciences and engineering.
Research Networks
Principal investigator and collaborator across national programs involving Long COVID, pragmatic sleep trials, health equity, and patient-centered outcomes.
Research
Core areas of investigation
Sleep Apnea and Personalized Care
Comparative effectiveness, positive airway pressure adherence, alternatives to PAP, endotyping, cardiovascular risk, and patient-centered treatment selection with $14 Million in funding.
Long COVID and Recovery Biology
Sleepiness, fatigue, cognition, autonomic symptoms, clinical outcomes assessment, biomarkers, and therapeutic trials in post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection with $24.5 Million in funding of observational studies and clinical trials.
Health and Sleep Equity
Culturally informed care in various populations to address health related social needs with ~$10 Million in funding.
Digital Health and Data Science
Multimodal clinical data, remote monitoring, synthetic controls, target trial emulation, predictive analytics, and AI-enabled clinical research infrastructure with ~$1 Million in funding from NIH.
Training in Lung and Sleep Research
Advanced research training experiences and long-term mentoring for junior faculty and transitioning postdoctoral scientists who are committed to investigating lung and sleep disorders with ~$4.5 Million in NIH funding.
Selected Programs
Large-scale collaborative research
PCORI Pragmatic Trial
Comparative Sleep Apnea Treatment
A four-site, 2,400-participant pragmatic study comparing treatment strategies for obstructive sleep apnea with 12-month patient-centered follow-up.
- University of Arizona lead site
- Multi-institutional collaboration
- Patient-centered and real-world outcomes
NIH RECOVER
Long COVID Clinical Research
Leadership in cohort and interventional research examining sleep, fatigue, cognition, function, and recovery in adults with Long COVID.
- National clinical trial collaboration
- Sleep and wake-promoting interventions
- Clinical outcomes and biomarker science
Center Initiative
Sleep, Circadian & Neurosciences Research
An interdisciplinary platform for developing team science across medicine, neuroscience, engineering, behavioral health, and population health.
- Annual scientific symposium
- Cross-campus investigator network
- Mentorship and program development
Scholarship
Publications and scientific contributions
Selected publications can be featured here, with links to PubMed, Google Scholar, ORCID, and institutional profiles.
Peer-Driven Intervention for Care Coordination and Adherence Promotion for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Randomized, Parallel-Group Clinical Trial
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine · 2025 · Advances OSA treatment from a device-centered model to a care-delivery model
Evaluation of Interventions for Cognitive Symptoms in Long COVID
JAMA Neurology · 2026 · The trial failed to demonstrate differential benefits from online cognitive training, a structured cognitive rehabilitation program, or transcranial direct current stimulation in participants with cognitive long COVID
Development of a Definition of Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
JAMA · 2023 · A framework for identifying cases of Long COVID based on symptoms is a first step to defining this new condition
“The goal is not only to generate evidence, but to build systems that make better care possible at scale.”
— Sairam Parthasarathy, MD
Contact
Collaboration, speaking, and research inquiries
For academic collaboration, invited lectures, media inquiries, or research partnerships, use the contact information below.
Office of Research & Partnerships
Tucson, Arizona