Andrey Zinchuk, MD, MHS
Assistant ProfessorCards
About
Research
Overview
We conduct NIH-sponsored research to identify physiological characteristics of individuals with sleep apnea that predict the effectiveness of treatment. Many individuals with sleep apnea can not tolerate first-line therapy: continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). We find that traits such as the ease with which individuals arouse from sleep and the biological clock are key factors in someone's success with CPAP therapy. We aim to use this understanding to personalized approaches to treatment, for example, in those with easy arousability, using medications or non-pharmacological treatments.
We also hope to understand phenotypes of sleep apnea and how they influence incident cardiovascular disease or death. For example, the propensity for oxygen desaturation during an apnea or the heart rate response to an apnea may identify those at most risk for heart disease or death. Understanding these phenotypes can help identify individuals in which sleep apnea treatment may prevent heart disease.
Mentors: Klar Yaggi MD (Yale), Andrew Wellman MD, PhD (Harvard), Scott Sands, PhD (Harvard)
Medical Research Interests
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
Clinical Care
Overview
Andrey Zinchuk, MD, MHS, is a pulmonary, critical care and sleep physician.
In the hospital’s intensive care unit, he cares for people who are critically ill. In the clinic, he helps patients with sleep disorders, particularly those with complex sleep-disordered breathing. “My goal is to provide the kind of care that I would want for my own family,” Dr. Zinchuk says. “I believe in taking the time to hear the patient, and being a guide in their journey in health and illness.”
Before he decided to pursue medicine, Dr. Zinchuk worked as a chemical engineer, devising new ways to deliver medications to the right parts of the human body at the right time. “I loved the complexity of engineering and how physical systems interact, but I wanted to apply this passion for complex systems to directly improve people’s lives,” he says.
Both of Dr. Zinchuk’s parents were doctors, and he decided to follow in their footsteps. He began his training in neurology, but transitioned to internal medicine, ultimately specializing in pulmonary and sleep medicine. “I find sleep to be a perfect intersection between engineering, the science of breathing, neurology, and mental health.” He now directs the Advances Apnea Management Program (AAMP) at Yale, specializing in cutting-edge treatments for sleep apnea.
In addition to directly caring for patients, Dr. Zinchuk conducts research to help personalize therapy for sleep disorders. “We are finding that sleep apnea patients who have certain physiological characteristics (phenotypes) respond to some treatments but not others.” His most recent work describes how certain phenotypes may help predict whether a patient suffering from sleep apnea will succeed with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or another sleep apnea therapy.
Clinical Specialties
Fact Sheets
Sleep Apnea
Learn More on Yale MedicineSleep Study
Learn More on Yale MedicinePediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Learn More on Yale MedicinePulse Oximetry
Learn More on Yale Medicine
Board Certifications
Sleep Medicine (Internal Medicine)
- Certification Organization
- AB of Internal Medicine
- Original Certification Date
- 2017
Critical Care Medicine (Internal Medicine)
- Certification Organization
- AB of Internal Medicine
- Original Certification Date
- 2016
Pulmonary Disease
- Certification Organization
- AB of Internal Medicine
- Original Certification Date
- 2015
Yale Medicine News
News & Links
News
- May 22, 2024
Andrey Zinchuk Selected for ATS New Investigator Award
- December 04, 2023Source: Daily Mail
Experts Reveal the Harm Done When You Go Just One Night Without Sleep
- May 22, 2023
Support for Ukraine's trauma victims
- May 03, 2023Source: Yale MacMillan Center
Ukrainian Doctors Receive Training at Yale; Inspire American Colleagues