The Sleep Research Society (SRS) has selected four sleep and circadian scientists as recipients of the 2026 Sleep Research Society awards, which recognize excellence in sleep and circadian research.
This year’s award winners will be recognized during the plenary session at SLEEP 2026 in Baltimore, MD.
Distinguished Scientist Award
For significant, original and sustained scientific contributions of a basic, clinical or theoretical nature to the sleep and circadian research field, made over an entire career.
H. Craig Heller, PhD
Dr. H. Craig Heller received his Ph.D. degree from Yale University in 1970. After a postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, he joined Stanford University in 1972 where he is now the Lorry I. Lokey/Business Wire Professor of Biology and Human Biology. Dr. Heller’s research has focused on the neurobiology of sleep, circadian rhythms, and thermoregulation. One body of work from his laboratory has been on mammalian hibernation and the roles of sleep and circadian control systems in that phenomenon. Current work includes research on the roles of sleep and circadian rhythms in learning and memory, and specifically on understanding and mitigating the intellectual disability caused by Down Syndrome. Another area of research in the Heller laboratory is the regulation of body temperature in humans. A technology for rapid and non-invasive management of body temperature was developed in the laboratory. Research is underway on numerous applications of this technology ranging from therapeutics, industrial health and safety, clinical medicine, and athletic performance enhancement.
Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award
For novel and seminal discoveries of a basic, clinical or theoretical nature that have made a significant impact on the sleep field.
Kamran Diba, PhD
Dr. Kamran Diba has explored how neuronal circuits coordinate to represent, store, and transfer information, and how different brain states shape these processes research for more than 20 years. His work has focused primarily on the hippocampus, the brain region most closely associated with memory formation and consolidation. His laboratory is distinguished by exceptionally long-duration recordings from large ensembles of spiking neurons in freely behaving and sleeping rodents.
Dr. Diba was originally trained in high‑energy physics, earning his doctorate at Brown University with David Lowe, where he modeled the quantum evaporation of charged black holes. His interest in neuroscience emerged through a course in computational neuroscience taught by David J. Pinto, a student of Bard Ermentrout. He subsequently pursued postdoctoral research with Christof Koch, investigating the role of intrinsic noise in neuronal computation. This work resulted in three publications modeling noise from stochastic ion channels distributed across compartmental models of single neurons, with predictions compared to whole‑cell current‑ and voltage‑clamp recordings in cultured neurons and neocortical pyramidal cells.
Through these studies, he recognized that the neuronal computations of greatest interest arise at the circuit level, within interacting populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Determined to collect large‑scale data directly, he joined the laboratory of György Buzsáki, where he learned to perform large‑scale neuronal recordings from the cortex of freely behaving rats and applied these methods to study sequential hippocampal activity during exploration and rest.
Mary A. Carskadon Outstanding Educator Award
For excellence in education related to the sleep and circadian research field.
Michael Scullin, PhD
Dr. Michael Scullin is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Furman University, where he was mentored by two legendary instructors, Gil Einstein and Charles Brewer. He earned his PhD at Washington University in St. Louis, where his research interests evolved to investigate the intersections of sleep, cognition, and educational learning. He subsequently completed a sleep-focused postdoctoral fellowship at Emory University under the mentorship of Don Bliwise and Lynn Marie Trotti. Dr. Scullin has advanced education-focused programming at the SLEEP Meeting, served on three SRS committees, and currently is Vice Chair of the SRS Communications Committee.
Dr. Scullin has taught thousands of students about sleep science through traditional lecture courses, community-based lifelong learning programs, and engaged learning courses. His classes are known for the “Eight Hour Sleep Challenge” and outreach term projects in which students actively disseminate sleep science to community members at diverse sites including senior living communities, zoos, art studios, and police stations. Across hundreds of student-led projects, these efforts have resulted in more than 10,000 face-to-face community interactions.
Over the past decade, Dr. Scullin’s team has partnered with the Mayborn Museum to introduce thousands of families to sleep science through interactive pop-up exhibits. The team’s widely attended Sleep is Good! pop-up exhibits have included a children’s polysomnography game, Sleep Superhero Challenges, and verbal and visual icebreakers such as an inflatable dinosaur fitted with a CPAP mask (“REM-ee the dino-SNORE-us”). His team recently installed a permanent museum fixture, Sleep Lab: The Exhibit.
Public Service Award
For significant and extraordinary contributions to the mission of SRS above and beyond research and educational activities.
Brigadier General Deydre Teyhen DPT, PhD, FAPTA
Brigadier General Deydre Teyhen was born in Canton, Ohio, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Science from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1993. She completed her Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy at the U.S. Army–Baylor University in 1995, a Ph.D. in Biomechanics from the University of Texas in 2004, and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Baylor University in 2008. She is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Army War College, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies in 2014.
Prior to becoming the Commanding General, Medical Readiness Command, Pacific and Director, Defense Health Network Indo-Pacific, she was the Director of the Defense Health Network-National Capital Region. Key senior leader positions include: Commanding General of Brooke Army Medical Center, Deputy Director of the San Antonio Market, and Deputy Chief of Staff (Support, G-1/4/6) at the Office of the Surgeon General. During the pandemic, she served as the Department of Defense Lead of Therapeutics for Operation Warp Speed at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as the Commander for Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the Department of Defense’s largest biomedical research facility. She has also Commanded the U.S. Army Health Clinic-Schofield Barracks and Public Health Command Region-South. Previous assignments included Assistant Chief of Staff – Public Health at the Army’s Office of the Surgeon General; Deputy Director, Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center; Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Physical Therapy Research for the U.S. Army-Baylor University Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy; Officer-in-Charge of Task Force 10 Delta Med in Al Kut, Iraq; Chief of Musculoskeletal Care Center and Chief of Physical Therapy at Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center; Chief of Outpatient Physical Therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Chief of Physical Therapy, 21st Combat Support Hospital in Tuzla, Bosnia; and Physical Therapist at Darnall Army Community Hospital.
BG Teyhen also served as the 20th Chief, U.S. Army Medical Specialist Corps (2020-2024). BG Teyhen has spent her career focused on improving the delivery of healthcare, holistic health, and readiness (public health, musculoskeletal medicine, behavioral health, resiliency, imaging, and technology). Her research accomplishments include over 360 peer-reviewed publications, editorials, book chapters, and published abstracts; 120 presentations at conferences; and 200 invited lectures.
