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)

Do Habitual Sleep Patterns Mediate the Relationship between Body Mass Index and Type 2 Diabetes? Results from a Population Sample

Lozano, A., Patterson, F., Malone, S. K., & Hanlon, A. (2017). In Sleep.
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A Population Analysis of Socio-Demographic Differences in Sedentary Behavior among Middle-age Adults

Patterson, F., Huan, L., Lozano, A., Malone, S. K., Siminski, R., & Hanlon, A. (2017). In International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
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Sedentary Behavior in the form of Television Viewing Most Strongly Related to Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Results from a Population Decision Tree Analysis

Patterson, F., Huang, L., Lozano, A., Malone, S. K., & Hanlon, A. (2017). In International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
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Shift-working Firefighters have Poorer Heart Health than they Think: An Intervention Opportunity

Patterson, F., Suminski, R., Malone, S. K., Lozano, A., Jahnke, S. A., & Poston, W. (2017). In Circulation (Vols. 133, Issue S1).
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Sociodemographics, Poor Overall Health, Fatigue, and Daytime Sleepiness Associated with Social Jetlag Independent of Sleep Duration and Insomnia

Forbush, S., Fisseha, F., Gallagher, R., Hale, L., Malone, S. K., Patteson, F., Branas, C., Barrett, M., Kilgore, W. D., Gehrels, J., Alfonso-Miller, P., & Grandner, M. (2017). In Sleep.
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Characteristics Associated With Sleep Duration, Chronotype, and Social Jet Lag in Adolescents

Malone, S. K., Zemel, B., Compher, C., Souders, M., Chittams, J., Thompson, A. L., & Lipman, T. H. (2016). In Journal of School Nursing (Vols. 32, Issues 2, pp. 120-131). 10.1177/1059840515603454
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Sleep is a complex behavior with numerous health implications. Identifying sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics of sleep is important for determining those at greatest risk for sleep-related health disparities. In this cross-sectional study, general linear models were used to examine sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics associated with sleep duration, chronotype, and social jet lag in adolescents. One hundred and fifteen participants completed Phase I (self-reported sleep measures), and 69 of these participants completed Phase II (actigraphy-estimated sleep measures). Black adolescents had shorter free night sleep than Hispanics. Youth with later chronotypes ate fewer fruits and vegetables, drank more soda, were less physically active, and took more daytime naps. Based on these findings, recommendations for individual support and school policies are provided.

Ethnic differences in sleep duration and morning-evening type in a population sample

Malone, S. K., Patterson, F., Lu, Y., Lozano, A., & Hanlon, A. (2016). In Chronobiology International (Vols. 33, Issue 1, pp. 10-21). 10.3109/07420528.2015.1107729
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This cross-sectional population study examined associations of sleep duration and morning-evening type with sociodemographic and cardiometabolic disease in adults participating in the UK Biobank study (N = 439 933). Multivariable Poisson regression models of sleep duration and morning-evening type with a robust error variance were generated to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. All models were adjusted for sex, race, college attendance, employment status and age. Twenty five percent of the sample reported short sleep; 27% were morning, 64% intermediate and 9% evening type. Black ethnicity emerged as most strongly associated with sleep behavior. Short sleep was twice as prevalent, and morning versus intermediate type was 1.4 times more prevalent in Black than White participants. The greater prevalence of short sleep and morning type among Blacks suggests that sleep-based approaches to improving cardiometabolic outcomes may require a more multidimensional approach that encompasses adequate sleep and circadian alignment in this population.

Individuals Display Robust  Stability of Trait-like Vulnerability or Resilience to Different Types of Sleep Loss and Different Neurobehavioral Measures. 

Malone, S. K., Frager, N., Taylor, A., Dinges, D., & Goel, N. (2016). In Sleep.
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Long Sleep and Evening Chronotype Associated with Poor Cardiovascular Health Behaviors

Patterson, F., Malone, S. K., Lozano, A., & Hanlon, A. (2016). In Circulation (Vols. 133, Issue S1).
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Population Assessment of Sleep Duration, Chronotype, and Body Mass Index

Malone, S. K., Patterson, F., Lu, Y., & Hanlon, A. (2016). In Annals of Behavioral Medicine (Vols. 49, Issue S215).
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