Susan Malone

Faculty

Susan Malone headshot

Susan Kohl Malone

PhD RN

Assistant Professor

1 212 992 7047

433 First Ave
New York, NY 10010
United States

Accepting PhD students

Susan Kohl Malone, PhD, RN, is an Assistant Professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Her research focuses on understanding how sleep patterns and circadian rhythms impact metabolic health, with particular emphasis on preventing type 2 diabetes through personalized sleep interventions. She investigates how improving sleep health can reverse metabolic syndrome in diverse populations and addresses critical health disparities in sleep and cardiometabolic outcomes. Prof. Malone also teaches courses on lifestyle approaches to wellness and mentors doctoral students in sleep health research.

Malone has led multiple NIH-funded research projects, and is currently investigating metabolically-relevant hormonal rhythms in adults with prediabetes and short sleep duration, as well as multimodal dynamic biosensing for quantifying long COVID symptom progression. Her work combines nursing science, behavioral science, and circadian biology to develop evidence-based interventions that improve health outcomes across the lifespan.

Prior to joining the faculty at NYU Meyers, Malone served as a Senior Research Scientist at the college and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology. She brings extensive clinical experience as a certified school nurse and diabetes educator, having worked in various healthcare settings including diabetes treatment centers and school health programs. This clinical background informs her translational research approach to making sleep science accessible and applicable to real-world health challenges.

Among her many honors, Malone had the unique honor of having the annual Susan Kohl Award established in her name at Georgetown University.

She completed postdoctoral training as a Senior Research Scientist at New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine's Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology, where she developed expertise in sleep and circadian health research. Her doctoral dissertation examined whether chronotype modifies the relationship between sleep duration and body mass index in adolescents, establishing her foundation in sleep health across the lifespan.

PhD in Nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
MSN in Nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
BSN in Nursing, Georgetown University School of Nursing
Cardiometabolic Health
Circadian Rhythms
Diabetes Prevention
Health Disparities
School Health
Sleep Research
American Academy of Nursing
Eastern Nursing Research Society
International Association of Circadian Health Clinics
Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society
Sleep Research Society
Society for Research in Biological Rhythms
Society of Behavioral Medicine
Marion R. Gregory Award for distinguished completed doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (2015)
Heilbrunn Nurse Scholar Award, Rockefeller University (2014)
Research Poster Winner, National Association of School Nurses Annual Conference (2013)
Leadership Identification Scholarship, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (1985)
Susan Kohl Award, Georgetown University (1985)
Sigma Theta Tau, Nursing Honor Society (1984)

Variability in Sleeping and Eating are Associated with Subclincial Atheroslcerosis in Early Adulthood

Hoopes, E. K., Wittman, M. A., D’Agata, M. N., Edwards, D., Robson, S., Keiser, T., Malone, S. K., & Patterson, F. (2023). In Sleep (Vols. 46, Issue S1).
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Addressing Challenges in Recruiting Diverse Populations for Research : Practical Experience from a P20 Center

Wright, F., Malone, S. K., Wong, A., Melkus, G. D., & Dickson, V. V. (2022). In Nursing research (Vols. 71, Issues 3, pp. 218-226). 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000577
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Background Improving the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups in all research areas is essential for health equity. However, achieving and retaining diverse samples is challenging. Barriers to recruitment and retention of diverse participants include socioeconomic and cultural factors and practical challenges (e.g., time and travel commitments). Objectives The purpose of this article is to describe the successful recruitment and retention strategies used by two related studies within a P20 center funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research focused on precision health research in diverse populations with multiple chronic conditions, including metabolic syndrome. Methods To address the complexity, biodiversity, and effect of metabolic syndrome and multiple chronic conditions, we developed culturally appropriate, multipronged recruitment and retention strategies for a pilot intervention study and a longitudinal observational pilot study within our P20 center. The following are the underlying principles that guided the recruitment and retention strategies: (a) flexibility, (b) active listening and bidirectional conversations, and (c) innovative problem solving. Results The intervention study (Pilot 1) enrolled 49 participants. The longitudinal observational study (Pilot 2) enrolled 45 participants. Women and racial/ethnic minorities were significantly represented in both. In Pilot 1, most of the participants completed the intervention and all phases of data collection. In Pilot 2, most participants completed all phases of data collection and chose to provide biorepository specimens. Discussion We developed a recruitment and retention plan building on standard strategies for a general medical population. Our real-world experiences informed the adaption of these strategies to facilitate the participation of individuals who often do not participate in research - specifically, women and racial/ethnic populations. Our experience across two pilot studies suggests that recruiting diverse populations should build flexibility in the research plan at the outset.

Best Interest Standard in School Health : A Concept Analysis

Grunin, L., & Malone, S. K. (2022). In Journal of School Nursing (Vols. 38, Issue 1, pp. 110-120). 10.1177/10598405211001459
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The bioethical concept of best interest standard is cited in courts across America and considered to be an effective method of managing pediatric health care decision-making. Although the best interest standard is referred to in an abundance of nursing, medical, legal, and bioethical literature, refinement and a clear definition of the concept are lacking in the context of school health. An exhaustive and methodical search was conducted across six databases revealing 41 articles from the past decade. The Wilsonian methodology was used to analyze, refine, and clarify the concept of best interest standard by presenting original case vignettes (model, contrary, related, and borderline) and an innovative conceptual model as it applies to school nursing. This concept analysis provides school nurses with a deeper understanding of the best interest standard to navigate the complex nature of making school health care decisions.

Changes in Alertness Over Consecutive Workdays for Internal Medical Interns: A Secondary Analysis of the iCOMPARE Trial

Cordoza, M., Dinges, D., Asch, D., Bellini, L., Malone, S. K., Desai, S., Volpp, K., Mott, C., Coats, S., Mollicone, D., & Basner, M. (2022). In Sleep.
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Effect of Automated Insulin Delivery on Glucose Counterregulation in Long-Standing Type 1 Diabetes

Flatt, A., Peleckis, A. J., Dalton-Bakes, C. V., Nguyen, H., Ilany, S., Matus, A. M., Malone, S. K., Jang, S., Weimer, J., & Rickels, M. R. (2022). In Diabetes (Vols. 71, Issue S1).
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Extending Sleep in Short-sleeping Middle-aged Adults at Risk for Metabolic Syndrome

Malone, S. K., Hoopes, E. K., Wong, A., Grunin, L., Yu, G., Dickson, V. V., & Melkus, G. D. (2022). In Sleep.
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Hybrid Closed Loop Insulin Delivery Systems Reduce Perceived Hypoglycemia During Sleep in Adults With Long-Standing Type 1 Diabetes and Hypoglycemia Unawareness

Matus, A. M., Malone, S. K., Flatt, A., Peleckis, A., Rickels, M. R., & Goel, N. (2022). In Sleep.
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On the Same Wavelength? Quantifying the Associations between Eating Times and Rest Activity Rhythms in Free Living Adults

Hoopes, E. K., D’Agata, M., Brookstein-Burke, T., Robson, S., Wittman, M., Malone, S. K., & Patterson, F. (2022). In Sleep.
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Promoting Health Equity with Precision Recruitment and Retention for Diverse Population

Wright, F., Malone, S. K., Wong, A., Dickson, V. V., & Melkus, G. D. (2022). In Nursing Research (Vols. 69, Issues 3, pp. E103-E104).
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Research gaps and opportunities in precision nutrition : an NIH workshop report

Lee, B. Y., Ordovás, J. M., Parks, E. J., Anderson, C. A., Barabási, A. L., Clinton, S. K., de la Haye, K., Duffy, V. B., Franks, P. W., Ginexi, E. M., Hammond, K. J., Hanlon, E. C., Hittle, M., Ho, E., Horn, A. L., Isaacson, R. S., Mabry, P. L., Malone, S. K., Martin, C. K., … Martinez, M. F. (2022). In American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Vols. 116, Issues 6, pp. 1877-1900). 10.1093/ajcn/nqac237
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Precision nutrition is an emerging concept that aims to develop nutrition recommendations tailored to different people's circumstances and biological characteristics. Responses to dietary change and the resulting health outcomes from consuming different diets may vary significantly between people based on interactions between their genetic backgrounds, physiology, microbiome, underlying health status, behaviors, social influences, and environmental exposures. On 11-12 January 2021, the National Institutes of Health convened a workshop entitled "Precision Nutrition: Research Gaps and Opportunities" to bring together experts to discuss the issues involved in better understanding and addressing precision nutrition. The workshop proceeded in 3 parts: part I covered many aspects of genetics and physiology that mediate the links between nutrient intake and health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer disease, and cancer; part II reviewed potential contributors to interindividual variability in dietary exposures and responses such as baseline nutritional status, circadian rhythm/sleep, environmental exposures, sensory properties of food, stress, inflammation, and the social determinants of health; part III presented the need for systems approaches, with new methods and technologies that can facilitate the study and implementation of precision nutrition, and workforce development needed to create a new generation of researchers. The workshop concluded that much research will be needed before more precise nutrition recommendations can be achieved. This includes better understanding and accounting for variables such as age, sex, ethnicity, medical history, genetics, and social and environmental factors. The advent of new methods and technologies and the availability of considerably more data bring tremendous opportunity. However, the field must proceed with appropriate levels of caution and make sure the factors listed above are all considered, and systems approaches and methods are incorporated. It will be important to develop and train an expanded workforce with the goal of reducing health disparities and improving precision nutritional advice for all Americans.