National Sleep Foundation Celebrates the Life and Legacy of Dr. Timothy Roehrs
Contact: Stephanie Kohn
540-850-7827
skohn@thensf.org
Washington, D.C. (September 22, 2025) — The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Timothy Roehrs who passed away after an acute illness on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at the age of 83. Roehrs’ research focused on drug abuse and the psychopharmacology of sleep and daytime alertness, as well as daytime sleepiness and its causes and consequences.
Dr. Roehrs presented at NSF’s Sleep Health & Safety conferences between 2010 and 2013 on pain and sleep. He also was Chair of NSF’s 2015 Sleep in America® Poll Task Force on the same topic. In 2013, Roehrs received NSF’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to sleep research.
Until his recent retirement, Dr. Roehrs served as Senior Bioscientific Staff for the Sleep Disorders and Research Center, Department of Medicine at Henry Ford Health. He was a highly respected, extremely accomplished researcher in the field of Sleep medicine. After retirement, he continued to be involved with teaching the Sleep Medicine fellows and consulting on grants and research projects.
Upon completion of his PhD in Physiological Psychology from the University of Georgia, Dr. Roehrs completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Institute, University of Washington and remained at the University of Washington teaching and conducting alcoholism and drug abuse research.
Dr. Roehrs joined the Henry Ford Medical Group in the Division of Sleep Disorders and Research Center in 1982. His research was funded by the Nationals Institutes of Health (NIH), specifically the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, and the National Institute of Mental Health. He published hundreds of papers and chapters on his research, served as a scientific grant reviewer for the NIH and numerous journals, served on the editorial boards of scientific journals, and served as a member of advisory boards, including the World Health Organization.
Roehrs served a term as Membership Chair on the Executive Committee of the Sleep Research Society and was later elected President of the Sleep Research Society. Roehrs also served 20 years as the Chair of The Henry Ford Institutional Review Board – a role he described as both challenging and rewarding. Dr. Roehrs is survived by his wife, Alice, extended family, friends, and colleagues.
About the National Sleep Foundation
There’s only one National Sleep Foundation (NSF). NSF is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health and well-being through sleep education and advocacy. Founded in 1990, the NSF is committed to advancing excellence in sleep health theory, research and practice. In its 35 years, NSF has promoted sleep health through expert recommendations, consensus guidelines, tech standards, and easy-to-use tips and tools to improve sleep.
For more information about NSF, visit www.theNSF.org │ SleepHealthJournal.org
