Outstanding Early Investigator Award

This award recognizes an outstanding research effort by an early-stage investigator in the field of sleep or circadian research. The basis for evaluation of a candidate is a single, peer-reviewed publication reporting original research (not a review), supported by a senior investigator’s letter of recommendation that must address specific elements described below. The candidate must be the first author; and the article must be published or accepted for publication in 2022.

The award consists of a plaque and an honorarium to be applied toward registration to attend SLEEP 2023, the Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. The plaque will be presented to you at SLEEP 2023 during the SRS Club Hypnos Reception.

To be eligible, the candidate must:

• Be the first author of the original, peer-reviewed publication,
• Which must have been published or accepted for publication in 2022,
• Be a member, in good standing, with the SRS,
• Hold a terminal degree (e.g., PhD, MD, DO) and be within 7 years of having obtained such degree, as of the January 22, 2023 deadline. If the applicant has taken time away from research and is thus beyond 7 years of having obtained a terminal degree, then the applicant must provide a description of extenuating circumstances (e.g. clinical training, maternity/paternity leave or care of dependents).

Application Cycle Closed

To apply, candidates must submit the completed Application Form, as a single PDF or Word Document, which includes:

  1. Complete citation of the article being submitted;
  2. Brief description (100-word maximum) of the significance of the article;
  3. A copy of the published article. If an article is in press at the time of application, a copy of the written notification of the article’s acceptance for publication must also be included;
  4. The name of a senior investigator providing the letter of recommendation. The senior investigator does not need to be an author on the article but should be familiar with the candidate’s role on the research described in the article.
  5. Senior investigator letter of recommendation precisely describing the role of the applicant in the 1) design, 2) execution, 3) analysis and 4) writing of the article, to be no more than 2 pages.
  6. Brief description of extenuating circumstances, consistent with above, if applicant is not within 7 years of obtaining terminal degree (e.g. clinical training, maternity/paternity leave or care of dependents).

Applicants (that still meet eligibility criteria) from previous years are eligible. The SRS Outstanding Early Investigator Award can only be received once by an individual.

Candidates are welcome to apply for the SRS Outstanding Early Investigator Award in addition to the Trainee Merit Awards, but in the event the candidate receives the SRS Outstanding Early Investigator Award, she/he will receive only this award. Multiple awards may be made, depending on the quality of the applications and availability of funds.

2022 Recipients

Galit Levi Dunietz, PhD, MPH
Galit Levi Dunietz, PhD, MPHUniversity of Michigan
“Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment and Dementia Risk in Older Adults” in SLEEP
James Dooley, PhD
James Dooley, PhDThe University of Iowa
“Movements during sleep reveal the developmental emergence of a cerebellardependent internal model in motor thalamus” in Current Biology
James Delorme, PhD
James Delorme, PhDMemorial Sloan Kettering
“Sleep loss drives acetylcholine- and somatostatin interneuron-mediated gating of hippocampal activity, to inhibit memory consolidation” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Past Recipients

2021 – Lauren Hablitz, PhD, Shi-Bin Li, PhD, & Guliz Ozcan, PhD
2020 – Haoqi Sun, PhD, Li-Feng Jiang-Xie, PhD & Tetyana Kendzerska, MD, PhD
2019 – Jonathan Cedernaes, MD, PhD, Jacqueline Lane, PhD & Masahi Tabuchi, PhD
2018 – Thomas Andrillon, PhD, Daniel B. Kay, Ph, Daniel A. Lee, PhD & Andrey Zinchuk, MD
2017 – Ada Eban-Rothschild, PhD & Keith Hengen, PhD; Jason Gerstner, PhD, Jennifer C. Tudor, PhD & Shirley Xin Li, PhD, DClinPsy
2016 – Jonathan Lipton, MD, PhD, Divya Sitaraman, PhD & Andrea M. Spaeth, PhD
2015 – Christelle Anaclet, PhD & Sha Liu, PhD
2014 – Miranda Lim, MD, PhD, Rachel Markwald, PhD & Simon Warby, PhD
2013 – Josianne Broussard, PhD & John Lesku, PhD
2012 – Jeffrey Donlea, Maxine Bonjean & David Plante
2011 – Matthew Carter, PhD & Siobhan Banks, PhD
2010 – Eva Szentirmai, MD, Tracy Rupp, PhD & Mark R. Smith, PhD
2009 – Sara Aton, PhD, Georgina Cano, & Thien Thang Dang-Vu, MD, PhD