Find Experts
Expert Bio

Primary Area of Expertise

Transportation

Expert Witness Profile

Dr. Merrill Mitler is a forensic examiner and expert in the physiology of sleep and fatigue with over 20 years of experience consulting on and testifying in more than 200 cases in which driver or worker fatigue was alleged to be a causal factor. He worked on such prominent cases as those arising from the Exxon Valdez grounding and the death of Libby Zion. Dr. Mitler has a Ph.D. in Psychology and Postdoctoral Certificate in Developmental Psychobiology of Sleep and Traffic Accident Investigation and has practiced Psychology in New York and California.

Dr. Mitler served on the faculties of Stanford University, The State University of New York Stony Brook, the Department of Neuropharmacology at The Scripps Research Institute and the Department of Psychiatry at The University of California, San Diego. For 11 years, he was the Program Director for Sleep and Circadian Rhythms Research at NIH's National Institute for Neurological Diseases and Stroke. He holds the following Board Certifications: American Board of Sleep Medicine, American Board of Forensic Examiners, American Board of Forensic Medicine.

Additional areas of expertise include: Fatigue, Driver Fatigue, Hours of Service, Sleep Deprivation, Sleep Disorders, Traffic Accidents, Trucking Accidents, Shift Work, Operator Fatigue in Industrial Accidents, Pilot Fatigue in Aviation and Crew Fatigue in Maritime Operations.

Education & Licenses

Clinical Sleep Medicine 1977 Sleep Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto.; Postdoctoral Training 1973 Sleep Research, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University, Palo Alto.; Ph.D. 1970 Michigan State University, East Lansing [Developmental Psychology].; M.A. 1969 Michigan State University, East Lansing [Developmental Psychology].; B.A. 1967 University of Wisconsin, Madison [Political Science and Psychology].