Dr. Markus Schmidt works as Senior Physician, Deputy Head of the Sleep-Wake-Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Schlaf-Wach-Epilepsie Zentrum, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Switzerland. He is the former Medical Director at the Ohio Sleep Medicine Institute in Columbus, Ohio (USA).
Dr Schmidt completed his PhD in sleep neurophysiology in Lyon, France under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Michel Jouvet – one of the “fathers” of sleep research. Dr Schmidt completed his residency in neurology at the Cleveland Clinic and his clinical training under the supervision of his father – Dr. Helmut Schmidt – a pioneer in the field of sleep medicine. Dr. Schmidt does research in Systems Biology, Evolutionary Biology and Neuroscience. His current work has focussed on the Energy Allocation Hypothesis of sleep, the role of the lateral hypothalamus in sleep and waking behaviors, and clinical sleep medicine. He proposed a new theory of sleep function (title: «the energy allocation hypothesis of sleep») and is active in a research program in Bern where he is a group leader. As the current Chairman of the World Sleep Society (previously WASM) Examination Committee, he is responsible for the development of an international exam in sleep medicine and its guidance on implementation. He is a member of ESRS Clinical Guidelines Working Group, since 2021 Scientific and Teaching Committee, EU NN, Member of Coordinating Panel Neuroscience/Translational Neurology, EAN.
He is an author and co-author of many scientific papers published in international and national peer-reviewed journals https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3299-1318.