Dr. Roehrs’ research has focused on drug abuse and the psychopharmacology of sleep and daytime alertness, and on daytime sleepiness and its causes and consequences. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, specifically the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, and the National Institute of Mental Health. He has published more than 200 papers and chapters on his research. He has served as a scientific grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and as a scientific paper reviewer for numerous journals. He serves on the editorial boards of the scientific journals Psychopharmacology, and Sleep.

Dr. Roehrs has served on a number of institutional committees for the Henry Ford Health System including its Small Projects Funding Committee, Research Committee and Institutional Review Board and he is currently the Chair of the Institutional Review Board. He also has served as a member of a number of national advisory boards, including the World Health Organization, Project on Sleep and Health, the NHLBI Working Group on Problem Sleepiness, and the Sleep Disorders Atlas Task Force of the American Sleep Disorders Association. He served two terms on the Scientific Program Committee of the Association of Professional Sleep Societies. He served a term on the Executive Committee of the Sleep Research Society as the Membership Chair. He later was elected President of the Sleep Research Society and served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Association of Professional Sleep Societies.