a
Nalaka S. Gooneratne
Nalaka S. Gooneratne, M.D., M.Sc.
Associate Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Presbyterian Medical Center of Philadelphia and the Veteran's Administration Medical Center
Department: Medicine
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
Ralston Penn Center, Room 220
3615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
3615 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: (215) 349-5938
Fax: (215) 573-8684
Fax: (215) 573-8684
Email:
ngoonera@mail.med.upenn.edu
ngoonera@mail.med.upenn.edu
Publications
Links
Search PubMed for articles
Primary Work Website
Division of Geriatric Medicine faculty webpage.
Search PubMed for articles
Primary Work Website
Division of Geriatric Medicine faculty webpage.
Education:
Cert. (French)
Ecole de Français Moderne, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, 1989.
B.S. (Medical Education)
Northwestern University (Honors Program) (Graduated with Distinction), 1991.
M.D. (Medicine)
Northwestern University School of Medicine (Graduated with Distinction), 1993.
M.Sc. (Clinical Epidemiology)
Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, 2002.
Permanent linkCert. (French)
Ecole de Français Moderne, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, 1989.
B.S. (Medical Education)
Northwestern University (Honors Program) (Graduated with Distinction), 1991.
M.D. (Medicine)
Northwestern University School of Medicine (Graduated with Distinction), 1993.
M.Sc. (Clinical Epidemiology)
Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, 2002.
Description of Research Expertise
Research Interests:Aging, sleep, complementary/alternative medicine, melatonin, cancer epidemiology, patient-oriented research, translational research, categorical data, clinical trials, multivariate analysis, time series.
Description of Research:
Dr. Gooneratne’s research interests are centered around studying the nature of sleep disorders in the elderly. While many older adults complain of difficulties with sleep, it is an area about which modern medicine has only a limited understanding. Funded initially by a National Institute on Aging Mentored Research Career Development Award (K23) and a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Award (R01), he is pursuing research examining the role of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, in sleep in the elderly. Dr. Gooneratne also has a strong interest in the attitudes of senior citizens towards their sleep problems and how their background/ethnicity informs their decisions. This project has been funded by a Hartford foundation/Penn Center for Excellence pilot grant. Dr.Gooneratne also runs a Sleep Disorders Clinic for Seniors in an effort to address the medical needs of older patients with sleep disorders. In addition, Dr. Gooneratne is the Associate Program Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Center of the University of Pennsylvania's Clinical and Translational Science Award, which assists in the conduct of over 190 clinical research studies. He also helps to coordinate the research activities of the Geriatric fellows in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and mentors research fellows in the Division of Sleep Medicine.
Description of Clinical Expertise
Dr. Gooneratne's clinical focus is in the area of sleep disorders in older adults. He has been invited to lecture on this topic at national conferences, such as those hosted by the American Association of Sleep Medicine, the American Thoracic Society as well as the National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science conference on Chronic Insomnia. Dr. Gooneratne runs a Sleep Disorders Clinic for Seniors which is tailored to the unique needs of older adults as they seek to address their sleep disturbances.Selected Publications
Grandner, M.A., Hale, L., Jackson, N., Patel, N.P., Gooneratne, N.S., Troxel, W.M.: Perceived Racial Discrimination as an Independent Predictor of Sleep Disturbance and Daytime Fatigue. Behavioral Sleep Medicine 10: 235-249, September 2012.Grandner, M. A., Martin, J. L., Patel, N. P., Jackson, N. J., Gehrman, P. R., Pien, G. W., Perlis, M. L., Xie, D., Sha, D., Weaver, T., and Gooneratne, N. S. : Age and sleep disturbances among American men and women: Data from the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Sleep 35(3): 395-406, March 2012.
Braun, M., Cines, P., Gooneratne, N.S.: Hypersomnia in Older Patients. Sleep Medicine Clinics. Avidan, A. (eds.). Elsevier, Inc. in press 2012.
Gooneratne, N.S., Edwards, Y.Z., Zhou, C., Cuellar, N., Grandner, M.A, Barrett, J.S. : Melatonin pharmacokinetics following two different oral surge-sustained release doses in older adults. J Pineal Res in press 2012.
Gooneratne, N.S.: Respiratory Diseases: Questions and Critique. Geriatrics Review Syllabus, 8th ed. Sullivan, G.M., Gazewood, J.D., Kennedy, G.J., Soriano, R.P. (eds.). American Geriatrics Society, New City, NY, in press 2012.
Lorenz, R.A., Cole, C.S., Kleban, M.H., Gooneratne, N.S., Kalra, G.K., Richards, K.C.: Exercise and social activity improve everyday function in long-term care residents. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry in press 2012.
Gooneratne NS, Gehrman P, Gurubhagavatula I, Schwab R: Commentary on: Effectiveness of Ramelteon for Insomnia Symptoms in Older Adults with Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Randomized Placebo- Controlled Pilot Study. Best of Sleep Medicine 2012. Lee-Chiong, T. (eds.). in press 2012.
Grandner, M.A., Patel, N.P., Gooneratne, N.S.: Difficulties sleeping: A natural part of growing older? Aging Health in press 2012.
Onen, F., Moreau, T., Gooneratne, N.S., Petit, C., Falissard, B., Onen, S.H.: Limits of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale in older adults. Sleep Breathing epub ahead of print 2012.
Maislin G., Ahmed M.M., Gooneratne N.S., Thorne-Fitzgerald M., Victor U., Teff K., Arnardottir E. S., Benediktsdottir B., Einarsdottir H., Juliusson S., Pack A.I., Gislason T., Schwab R.J.: Single Slice vs Volumetric MR Assessment of Visceral Adipose Tissue – Reliability and Validity in overweight and obese males and females. Obesity in press 2012.
