What are the best tools/algorithms for robust and objective evaluations of sleep health biomarkers?

How does insufficient sleep duration, irregular timed sleep schedules, and poor sleep quality contribute to the pathophysiology of lung, heart and blood diseases?

What are practical point-of-care diagnostic biomarkers that could be used for assessment of sleep/circadian health, sleep disorders, and the risk of sleep-related heart, lung, and blood diseases?

Will sensitivity to the psychological aspects of obesity, including lifestyle priorities and motivations, improve the efficacy of long-term effectiveness of weight loss and obesity prevention interventions?

Would improving sleep and circadian rhythms in the critical care setting result in improved patient outcomes (e.g., reduce severity of infection, duration of intubation, length of hospital stay)?

What is the role of lymphatic system in normal function of the heart? Do dysfunctional lymphatics contribute to heart failure? Do lymphatics have a role in recovery after MI? It has been reported that lymphatic vasculature transport HDL during reverse cholesterol transfer. Do lymphatics have a role in atherosclerosis? What is the contribution of lymphatic system to asthma or COPD? Does the lymphatic system contribute... more »

Arousals in obstructive sleep apena (OSA) are life saving, but the associated disruption of sleep is now thought to cause cognitive impairment, increased risk of high blood pressure and atherosclerosis, as well as glucose intolerance and metabolic syndrome. The mechanisms for these downstream effects, however, are not well understood. Can these specific pathophysiological mechanisms be identified, and can ways for mitigating... more »

I have extreme delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD), a circadian rhythm disorder (CRD). I fall asleep at dawn and wake up early afternoon. My dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) is at 5:30 am. A normal person’s DLMO may be at 9 pm, for example.

CRD treatment—prolonged bright light after temperature nadir, dark restriction/melatonin starting several hours before natural bedtime, darkness till temperature nadir—does not work... more »

Individuals differ substantially in their physiological, health, behavioral and cognitive responses to sleep loss. Although these differences represent a trait, individuals who are vulnerable in one domain may be resilient in another - few systematic relationships between physiological, long-term health, cognitive and subjective responses to sleep loss have been found. Moreover, within a given domain, vulnerability to... more »

There is evidence of a higher prevalence of sleep and circadian disorders in different ethnic groups. This is true for both adult and pediatric subjects. There is also evidence that minority populations in lower socioeconomic groups do not seek evaluation for sleep disorders as frequently as other segments of our population. There is also evidence that they are less adherent to treatments such as nasal CPAP for obstructive... more »

We need to understand sleep and circadian disorders at a more mechanistic level. This applies to both the pathogenesis of these disorders and to their impact on health. New neurobiological and molecular tools facilitate this research. The focus needs to be not only in brain but also the impact of these disorders on future of peripheral organs. The elucidation of the fundamental functions of sleep and the impact of... more »

There is developing evidence that sleep disorders, in particular obstructive sleep apnea and inadequate sleep, can influence the course of other chronic diseases. Observational studies show that CPAP treatment of patients with pre-diabetes who have OSA reduces the incidence of future diabetes. Moreover, animal and human data indicate that insufficient sleep and sleep apnea can affect the rate of progression of neurodegenerative... more »

Much of the current clinical research on sleep and circadian research depends on cohorts designed for other purposes. While this has been helpful, such studies have limitations. These limitations are related to availability of in-depth phenotyping data and questions as to whether individuals identified in population studies are equivalent to those who present clinically with specific disorders. These concerns could... more »

Sleep and circadian disorders are relatively new areas of medicine. Most universities currently lack a critical mass of investigators to develop institutional T32 grants. Thus, there are, unfortunately, few such programs nationally. The Sleep Research Society has recognized this and is taking active steps to facilitate development of other T32 institutional training grants.

This will not, however, help the majority... more »

There is an urgent need to develop quantifiable biomarkers for acute sleep loss, chronic sleep insufficiency, circadian disruption and sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. These problems are highly prevalent but currently we do not have biomarkers to use for case identification, prognosis, or assessing response to therapy. There are currently small studies that indicate the feasibility. A recent workshop... more »