Richard P. Allen, PhD, is a diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and research associate in neurology at the Johns Hopkins University. He received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and went on to conduct graduate studies in psychology at MIT. He completed his graduate studies and received his doctorate in psychology at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England, and was subsequently certified by the American Board of Sleep Medicine. Dr. Allen is a licensed psychologist in the state of Maryland. After serving as the Director of Alcoholism Services at Baltimore City Hospital, he went to the Johns Hopkins University where he founded and co-directed the Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center and jointly founded with Dr. Earley the center for the study of restless legs syndrome (RLS) at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to continuing at the Johns Hopkins University, his research and active clinical practice in sleep medicine focused on restless legs syndrome, he also teaches at the Johns Hopkins University and serves as a field editor for the Journal of Sleep Medicine, and on the editorial board of Sleep, and also that of Movement Disorders. He is a member of the medical advisory board (past chairman) of the RLS Foundation, NIH CSR Review Panel, the American Academy of Neurology, International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (Chairman) and World Association of Sleep Medicine (secretary). Dr. Allen has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-review journal articles, book chapters and sections, editorials, reviews, and abstracts. He chaired and was first author on RLS definition consensus report from a workshop at NIH. Current research projects include Hypocretin, Histamine and Restless Legs Syndrome; Restless Legs Syndrome: epidemiology, quality of life, treatment evaluations; The Iron-Dopamine Connection; Response to Iron Treatment for Restless Legs Syndrome; and Determining the Genetics of Restless Legs Syndrome.

Circadian rhythms; Sleep medicine; Restless legs syndrome; Iron