Outstanding Early Investigator Award

The application period for the 2025 Outstanding Early Investigator Award is now closed. The 2026 application cycle is anticipated to open October 2025.

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 between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024.

The award consists of a plaque and an honorarium to be applied toward registration to attend SLEEP 2025, the Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. The plaque will be presented to you at SLEEP 2025 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 between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024,
• 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 19, 2025 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 Process

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

Complete citation of the article being submitted;
Brief description (100-word maximum) of the significance of the article;
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;
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.
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.
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.

2024 Recipients

Hailey Meaklim, PhDThe University of Melbourne/Monash University

“Disseminating sleep education to graduate psychology programs online: a knowledge translation study to improve the management of insomnia” in SLEEP

Amy Poe, PhDUniversity of Pennsylvania

“Developmental emergence of sleep rhythms enables long-term memory capabilities in Drosophila” in Science Advances

Iris Titos Vivancos, PhDUniversity of Utah

“A gut-secreted peptide suppresses arousability from sleep” in Cell

Past Recipients

2023 – Wenjie Bian, PhD, Stephanie Griggs, PhD, RN, FAAN, & Shady Rahayel, PhD, PsyD
2022 – Galit Levi Dunietz, PhD, MPH, James Dooley, PhD, & James Delorme, PhD
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