Babak Mokhlesi MD M.Sc.

Critical Care Medicine, Sleep Medicine

The J. Bailey Carter, MD Professor of Medicine, Division Chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Rush University Medical Center

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Rush University Medical Center1750 W Harrison St Jelke 213Chicago, IL 60637
Phone+1 312-942-5440

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Summary

Dr. Babak Mokhlesi is the J. Bailey Carter, MD Professor of Medicine and Division Chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago. He specializes in critical care medicine, sleep medicine and general pulmonology.

Education & Training

Rush UniversityM.Sc., Master of Science in Clinical Research, 2003 - 2005
McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern UniversityFellowship, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, 1997 - 2000
Louis A Weiss Memorial HospitalResidency, Internal Medicine, 1994 - 1997
Universidad de MonterreyClass of 1994

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Certifications & Licensure

IL State Medical License 1996 - 2029
CA State Medical License 1997 - 2004
American Board of Internal Medicine Critical Care Medicine
American Board of Internal Medicine Pulmonary Disease
American Board of Internal Medicine Sleep Medicine

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

Deputy Editor in Chief Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2025
Associate Editor SLEEP, 2020-2025
Associate Editor Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2014-2024

Clinical Trials

Hyper-Arousal in Chronic Primary Insomnia Start of enrollment: 2014 Jan 01
Completed
Impact of Suvorexant on Sympathetic Nerve Activity and Baroreflex Function in Chronic Insomnia Start of enrollment: 2019 Apr 18
Recruiting
Phase 4

Publications & Presentations

PubMed

A randomized trial of I-SLEEP: A patient education and empowerment intervention on inpatient sleep duration and medical sleep disruptions.
Aashna Sunderrajan, John Cursio, Noah Mason, Maxx Byron, Maylyn Martinez
Journal of Hospital Medicine. 2026-08-01
Reply to: "Letter to the editor regarding 'A randomized trial of I-SLEEP: A patient education and empowerment intervention on inpatient sleep duration and medical slee...
Aashna Sunderrajan, John Cursio, Noah Mason, Maxx Byron, Maylyn Martinez
Journal of Hospital Medicine. 2026-07-29
Physiological Characteristics of Central versus Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients with Heart Failure.
Raichel M Alex, Shahrokh Javaheri, Rami Khayat, James C Fang, Ruckshanda Majid
Sleep. 2026-07-23

Press Mentions

Obesity and Lung Disease: Much More Than BMIMay 20th, 2022
Guideline: Blood CO2 Can Be Used to Screen for OHSSeptember 6th, 2019
Evaluation and Management of Obesity Hypoventilation SyndromeAugust 29th, 2019

Grant Support

R01: IMPACT OF SLEEP IN THE RESTORING INSULIN SECRETION (RISE) STUDYNIH/NHLBI2013–2018

Research History

Research focusMy research focuses on understanding the cardio-metabolic risk associated with OSA, in particular REM sleep apnea. During the last few years, my research has focused on REM-related OSA. I am also interested in obesity hypoventilation syndrome and perioperative complications of OSA.