Biographical Sketch:
J. Christian Gillin, M.D., a renowned sleep specialist and professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, died of esophageal cancer on Saturday, September 13, 2003. He was 65. In 2001 he was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of sleep medicine. He was also given the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Sleep Research Society.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, John Gillin received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University where he graduated magna cum laude, he earned his M.D. at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and completed his psychiatric training at Stanford University Medical Center.
He became interested in two hypotheses of psychosis and hallucinations of schizophrenia. These two interests drove much of his research program during his first years of research at the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), where he was assigned to the sleep laboratory and began his sleep research, the area of study that would become his legacy. He worked at the National Institute of Mental Health from 1971 until 1982, when he joined the UCSD faculty.
Topical Index:
Interview History:
Dates: Dec-96
Interviewer: W.Bunney
Transcript:
Papers:
