Jessica A. Mong, PhD

1987-1991                   B.S.     Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA

1994-2000                   Ph.D.   Neuropharmacology, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD   

2000-2003                   NIH sponsored Postdoctoral Fellowship in Endocrinology, Rockefeller University, New York, NY                                                   
                                    

Throughout my career, I have been interested in biological sex differences and steroid actions on brain function.  In 2000, I received my Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from the University of Maryland where my dissertation research investigated sex differences in the developing brain and formed the foundations for my continuing research interest. To further my training in how steroids may influence brain function and behavior, I completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior at the Rockefeller University. During this fellowship, I made the novel discovering that estrogens markedly influence the expression of genes implicated in sleep.    In 2003, I was selected as a NIH BIRCWH (Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health) Scholar by the Women's Health Research Group at the University of Maryland and joined the faculty as a member of the Department of Pharmacology where I work has continued to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying estrogenic modulation of sleep and arousal states.    

 A primary focus of my research is the study of mechanisms underlying the ovarian steroid control of sleep and arousal systems.  My laboratory uses a multidisciplinary approach, which combines behavioral, cellular and molecular and functional neuroanatomical techniques. Using animal models my laboratory has demonstrated that sleep patterns in females are more sensitive to fluctuations in sex steroids compared to males.  Our work further suggests that this sex difference in sensitivity is the result of sexually differentiated neural patterns in the sleep circuitry. Our work has gained national and international recognition.  In 2014,I was appointed as a standing member and co-chair of the Society for Women’s Health Research’s Interdisciplinary Research Network for the Studies of Sex-Differences in Sleep Health.

In addition to myresearch program, I am actively involved in mentoring and education.  I have mentored/co-mentored 7 Ph.D. students.  I am currently the PI of a NIH sponsored T32 for training in Neuroscience.

Sleep, Sleep circuity, Sex differences, Estradiol, Median Preoptic Nucleus, Women's Health, Insomnia, Arousal

1. S. Rothwell, S. Viechweg, L. Prokai, A. Lacreuse*, J. A. Mong*. (2024). Oral administration of ethinyl estradiol and the brain-selective estrogen prodrug DHED in a female common marmoset model of menopause: Effects on cognition, thermoregulation, and sleep. Hormones and Behavior DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105670.
2. M. Hadjimarkou, J.A. Mong (2025 ) Sex differences in sleep and circadian rhythms. Frontiers in Neuroscience 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1583842.
3. Kruk, P.C. Smith, D.M. Cusmano, S.S. Viechweg, C.A. Byrd, A. Huddleson, M.D. Schwartz, J.A. Mong. (2026) The Median Preoptic Nucleus is a Key Site for Estradiol Regulation of Sleep-Wake Behaviors in Female Rats. Sleep. DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsaf387
4. Onwukwe, C. A. Byrd, S.S. Viechweg, D. Black, and J.A. Mong (2025) bioRxiv./2025/672605

My research program focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms that regulate sleep and wakefulness, with particular emphasis on sex differences, ovarian hormones, and the impact of sleep disruption on long-term health and disease vulnerability. A central goal of my work is to understand how estradiol and other ovarian hormones act within sleep-regulatory circuits to shape sleep architecture, sleep homeostasis, and behavioral state control across the female lifespan.

A major focus of my laboratory has been defining the role of the median preoptic nucleus and related hypothalamic sleep-regulatory regions in mediating the effects of estradiol on sleep-wake behavior. Using rodent models, EEG/EMG sleep recording, targeted pharmacological approaches, receptor-specific manipulations, and neuroanatomical analyses, we have shown that estradiol produces robust changes in wakefulness, NREM sleep, REM sleep, and slow-wave activity. Our work supports the idea that estrogenic regulation of sleep is mediated through specific neural populations and receptor mechanisms within key preoptic circuits, rather than through generalized hormonal effects.

More recently, my research has expanded to investigate astrocytes as active mediators of sex differences in sleep regulation. This work examines how estradiol modulates astrocyte function within sleep-promoting brain regions and how astrocyte-neuron interactions contribute to sleep homeostasis. By integrating approaches such as viral tools, chemogenetics, fiber photometry, and sleep physiology, we aim to identify cellular and molecular mechanisms through which ovarian hormones influence sleep need, recovery sleep, and vulnerability to sleep disruption.

A second major area of interest is the relationship between early life stress, sleep disruption, and vulnerability to substance use disorders, particularly opioid use disorder. This line of research investigates how adolescent trauma alters sleep architecture and neural circuit function in ways that may increase opioid use vulnerability later in life. We are particularly interested in the lateral habenula and its connected circuits, including inputs from the entopeduncular nucleus and central amygdala and outputs to the RMTg and VTA. Our goal is to determine whether sleep disruption serves not only as a consequence of stress exposure, but also as a mechanistic biomarker and potential intervention target for reducing risk of opioid-related behaviors.

Across these projects, my laboratory uses sleep as a window into brain function, hormonal state, stress history, and disease vulnerability. By studying the intersection of sex, sleep, hormones, glia, and neural circuits, we aim to identify mechanisms that contribute to individual differences in sleep and to develop more precise, biologically informed strategies for improving health outcomes in women and other populations vulnerable to sleep disruption

Standing member and Co-Chair, SWHR, Interdisciplinary research network for the Studies in Sex-Differences in Sleep Health

“Mechanisms Governing the Estrogenic Modulation of Sleep”  NIH/NHLBI,  R01 HL129138  

T32 NS4074 Training Program in Integrative Neuroscience