Never has there been a more important time to come together as a community and support the advancement of science as now. Science has assisted us in our struggle to beat and emerge from the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic over the past 15 months with a range of “real-world” accomplishments that harnessed our understanding of the mRNA, immunobiology, and virology to bring effective COVID vaccines and promising new therapies.
Such innovations have helped save millions of lives and returned more than the investments that were made on scientific questions and budding careers. But, do we have a full understanding of the sequelae left behind by COVID-19? Do we know if sleep loss undermined immune resilience to increase susceptibility to COVID in certain individuals? Do we fully understand the crosstalk between sleep and immunity? or sleep and cognition? There are so many questions in our field considering the cross-cutting nature of sleep and circadian sciences. We, you, can make a huge difference with your donation — big or small — as the neuroscientist Abhijit Naskar said,
“It’s your intention that determines the true worth of your donation, not the amount.”
The impact of your donation is tremendous. Your motive could be to help fund the SRSF Career Development Award that protects the research time of a budding young sleep scientist who would discover the underpinnings of how sleep can promote cognition. You may want to help fund the small research grant program that could yield the next discovery of how circadian rhythms can be manipulated to promote immune resilience or reduce inflammation. Your microdonation may fund a trainee to travel to the SLEEP meeting and thereby make them catch the sleep bug and kickstart a long and illustrious career in sleep and circadian sciences. If you want to learn about how your donation can support sleep and circadian sciences, please view our annual report on the website. Or simply tell us how we could better investing your monies by dropping us an email. As I fill the big shoes left behind by Kristen Knutson, I promise you that I will strive to be responsive to your queries and concerns. Just remember that a small effort on your part today can go a long way for someone in the future! We are not asking for you to topple an ice bucket onto your head; drink a tall glass of milk; or eat beef! We are merely asking you to sleep on it!
