Trainee Symposia Series

To kick off the Trainee Symposia Series being held at SLEEP 2023, the SRS will be hosting three virtual sessions during the month of May 2023. While these sessions will be geared toward trainees, individuals, no matter their background or professional level are invited to attend. For more information and to register for each individual virtual session, please see below:

May 2023

Date and Time: Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 4:00 pm, ET
Speaker: Farah Hasan
Title: Falling asleep while writing the MCAT: Stories from my life with idiopathic hypersomnia
Farah Hasan is a graduate student doing health science education research. Diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia at 21, Farah hopes to demystify the unusual symptoms of idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy. As a speaker with Project Sleep’s Rising Voices leadership program, she will be sharing insights from her personal journey to diagnosis and treatment.

Trainee Symposia Series – In Person Sessions

Sunday, June 4, 2023

The Trainee Symposia Series includes seminars on the science of sleep and circadian rhythms, career development, as well as social activities for trainees to foster a collegial atmosphere.

The schedule for the in-person event is listed below. To register for these in-person sessions, please visit the SLEEP 2023 website linked below.

8:00-9:00 am

Cultural Considerations and Adaptations of Sleep Interventions

How do we tailor sleep interventions for racially and ethnically diverse populations? What are cultural Considerations to keep in mind when implementing sleep interventions to these populations? How do we tailor our research to consider the impact of culture in sleep interventions?

Eric Zhou, PhD
Harvard Medical School

Effects of early life sleep disruption on brain development and social behavior later in life

How can the highly social prairie vole help us conceptualize the biopsychosocial consequences of sleep disturbances in autism spectrum disorder?

Miranda Lim, MD, PhD
Oregon Health and Science University

Interactions Between Sleep and Diet

A review of the evidence that sleep and diet are interrelated health behaviors.

Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhD
Columbia University Medical Center

A Crash Course in Sleep EEG

What does EEG measure? How do you acquire and analyze polysomnography data? What are the macrostructure and microstructure features of sleep? What do sleep oscillations look like and how are they detected? What are the challenges and advantages of sleep EEG? Can we use wearable technologies to measure sleep?

Bengi Baran, PhD
University of Iowa

Get Funded! A Guide to Sleep Research Funding for Students, Beginning and Early Investigators
An overview of funding sources and fellowship opportunities for sleep researchers in training positions and early-stage careers.

Shilpy Dixit, PhD
National Center on Sleep Disorder Research, NHLBI

Sairam Parthasarathy, MD
University of Arizona College of Medicine

9:10-10:10 am

Missing Data Approaches for Sleep Wearables
Often, real-world actigraphy and wearable data has some missingness; what are some common issues with missing data, and what are some specific approaches for sleep wearables data (such as time series data, data where there may not be an off-wrist or missingness detector on the device)? What are some current multiple imputation options for actigraphy data?

Jaime Devine, PhD
Institutes for Behavior Resources, Inc.

How to Work with the Media/Press
Translating scientific findings into population outcomes involves knowing how to communicate and interact with the press and the public. Unfortunately, this tends to be more “learn as you go” than taught during formal academic training. Learn from public-facing scientists about what (and what not!) to say.

Jade Wu, PhD, DBSM
Duke University School of Medicine

Rebecca Robbins, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Sleep and the Dementias: A Clinical Perspective
The aging of the population results in an increased prevalence of all forms of dementia including, but not limited to, Alzheimer’s Disease. Conditions such as Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Vascular Dementia and Frontotemporal Dementia are all common in older persons. This talk will present descriptive evidence on how sleep may be altered in such conditions, as well as touch upon the possibility that disordered sleep may hasten development of neurodegenerative processes in the central nervous system.

Donald L. Bliwise, PhD
Emory University School of Medicine

Insomnia Interventions – Overview and State of the Clinical Science
What interventions currently exist to help with insomnia or poor sleep? How do these interventions apply to specific populations (i.e., older adults, ASD, Latinx, etc.)?

Christina McCrae, PhD, DBSM, FSBSM, FAASM
University of South Florida

Ashley Curtis, PhD
University of South Florida

Melanie Stearns, PhD
University of South Florida

Sleep and Suicide
A discussion of the potential for within-person fluctuations in sleep patterns to serve as a proximal, dynamic, observable, and modifiable risk factor for suicide; proposed mechanisms underlying this relationship; role of sleep technology/wearables in risk prediction; developmental considerations; science communication and implications for clinical care and policy.

Jessica L. Hamilton, PhD
Rutgers University

10:20-11:20 am

Consumer Sleep Technology: Benefits, Drawbacks, and Open Questions
A discussion of the benefits and drawbacks, practical considerations, and the current state of the evidence regarding reliability and performance of popular wearable devices compare to PSG and actigraphy. What opportunities are there for sleep researchers to incorporate consumer sleep technology into their studies (e.g., by conducting performance evaluation studies)?

Michael A. Grandner, PhD, MTR, DBSM, FAASM
University of Arizona

Evan D. Chinoy, PhD
Naval Health Research Center

Sleep Health Promotion: What it is and how we can try to make it happen
The presentation will: 1) provide contemporary context and a conceptual framework for sleep-health promotion and; 2) encourage a collaborative discussion regarding ways the proposed framework could be used to accomplish sleep health promotion.

Reut Gruber, PhD
McGill University

Career Trajectories in Sleep Sciences: Professional Development Discussions
A panel dedicated for discussions on career paths and opportunities in the field of sleep sciences. A session hosted by professionals in varying positions in the field who can shed light on their individual paths, where they are now, and advice they have for trainees.

Olivia Walch, PhD
University of Michigan,
CEO, Arcascope

Jason Ong, PhD
Nox Health, Inc.

Lisa J. Meltzer, PhD
Owner, Nyxeos Consulting and Professor of Pediatrics, National Jewish Health

Sleep as a Social Justice Issue: Partnering with Communities to Address Sleep Health Disparities
Moving beyond identifying and characterizing racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other disparities in sleep health. How can researchers partner with under-resourced communities (and with other disciplines) to meaningfully improve sleep health?

Ariel A. Williamson, PhD, DBSM
University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine & Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Carol Ripple, PhD
Pajama Program

Selena Nguyen-Rodriguez, PhD, MPH
California State University, Long Beach

Stephanie J. Crowley, PhD
Rush University Medical Center

Sleep in Extreme Environments
What can research on sleep in extreme environments and circumstances such as Antarctica, space, and austere/threatening military conditions tell us about “typical” day-to-day sleep? What additional factors must be considered when designing and executing studies in these types of environments?

Joanne Bower, PhD
University of East Anglia

Erin Flynn-Evans, PhD, MPH
NASA Ames Research Center

Hans P.A. Van Dongen, PhD
Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Trainee Networking Hour
Enjoy light food and beverage during a trainee networking hour. T-shirts and award checks will be available for pick up at the end of the networking session.