On a typical day, you’ll find Dr. Sonia Ancoli-Israel, 74, walking in her San Diego neighborhood with a group of women friends, playing mahjong, reading a book or attending a Pilates class. She has lived in the same house for 43 years and only got to know many of her neighbors after retiring.
Her life today is very different from the decades she spent reading polysomnograms or standing before research audiences explaining her groundbreaking discoveries about sleep disorders. But for someone who devoted 45 years to studying circadian rhythms, she’s discovered that retirement has its own natural rhythm — one that includes morning walks, travel, photography, time with her four grandchildren, who all live nearby, and her continued engagement in the San Diego Jewish community.
“I never really understood what retirement meant,” Ancoli-Israel admits with a laugh. “I thought I’d step away from work, but I’m busier now than I ever was.”
Sonia Ancoli-Israel poses in her living room next to a selection of pillows from her personal collection. (McKenzie Patterson / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
When Ancoli-Israel retired in 2012 at age 60, it wasn’t because she had planned to. Her husband, Andy, a well-known internal medicine physician, was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s. The irony wasn’t lost on her. After decades studying sleep in Alzheimer’s patients and the toll it takes on caregivers, she was about to live it.
“I wanted to make the most of the time we had left together,” she says quietly. “Andy was my heart and my soul — the most supportive husband I could have asked for. He not only encouraged me to believe in my own dreams, but he also believed in them himself. I’ve no regrets.”
They had a few good years of travel before she became his full-time caregiver. Andy passed away in October 2020 just before his 69th birthday.
Ancoli-Israel’s research helped establish that sleep apnea and periodic limb movements are remarkably common in older adults. She pioneered the use of light therapy in nursing homes and was among the first to study sleep and circadian rhythms in women with breast cancer. Her list of honors reads like a who’s who of sleep medicine awards, and on May 17, she is being recognized as Scientist of the Year by the San Diego chapter of Achievement Rewards for College Scientists. At the awards ceremony, she will talk about her research.
Ancoli-Israel has visited over 100 countries, and her blog, Journeys with Sonia, includes photos along with details about her trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, Mongolia, Japan and more. She likes to “go off the beaten track”— experiencing nature and animals in their natural habitats, such as seeing blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos or the Bornean sun bears in the wilds of Borneo — or learning about a different culture when she attended the Tapati festival sponsored by the Rapa Nui on Easter Island.
Born outside Tel Aviv to Holocaust survivors, Ancoli-Israel’s Jewish heritage has always been central to her identity. In the mid-1990s, she participated in a two-year leadership course on Judaism that proved transformative. “We studied the Bible, the New Testament, the Koran, and so much more,” she recalls. That deep dive into religious texts inspired one of her favorite papers — a scholarly exploration of what Hebrew tradition says about sleep. “Turns out many things we think we discovered were already referenced thousands of years ago,” she says. “There really is nothing new under the sun.”
Her involvement in Jewish community life continues to provide both spiritual grounding and social connection in retirement. She has served as president of her synagogue, Congregation Beth El, and on the boards of other organizations, including the Jewish Federation of San Diego and the San Diego Jewish Academy.
Today she is comfortable spending time alone and reading a book for hours without feeling guilty. Her recent favorite is “The Correspondent.” She says, “I like to read books that take me out of my life and out of my head and put me somewhere else.” What she likes most about her current life is that “I get to do all the fun stuff and say no to the things I don’t want to do anymore. I have the best of all worlds.”
Her home is filled with travel photographs she’s taken, artwork collected from around the world, and family photos of Andy, her two children and four grandchildren. “Having them close by is the light of my life,” she says.
Sonia Ancoli-Israel poses for a portrait in her backyard. (McKenzie Patterson / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
She remains professor emerita at UC San Diego, where she is a co-investigator on grants, writes papers, gives talks, and until recently, served on the executive board of the UCSD Center for Circadian Biology. She continues to be involved with what’s become one of the world’s most eminent circadian conferences. She still gets invited to speak internationally, though these days she’s more selective about which invitations to accept.
Her advice for seniors struggling with sleep? “Get bright light exposure during the morning — that’s why I walk every morning. Keep a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed when you’re tired. And don’t just lie in bed awake. If you can’t sleep and find yourself getting tense and anxious, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy again.” She also emphasizes that many sleep problems in older adults are treatable. “Too many people accept poor sleep as just part of aging. It shouldn’t be.”
Another important tip: “Get rid of your clock. Timepieces don’t belong in the bedroom. They just wake you up more and make you more anxious about not sleeping. If you need an alarm, stick it under the bed,” she advises.
Ancoli-Israel’s professional legacy lives on through her students, many now leaders in sleep medicine. Her personal legacy will endure through her children and grandchildren and in the two San Diego Holocaust memorials she spearheaded — permanent reminders of her parents’ survival and her commitment to ensuring their generation is never forgotten.
I’m interested in writing a column about seniors who are navigating the dating world. Please email me at bbry@askturing.ai if you have a story that you’d like to share.