The Trainee Symposia Series is intended to foster scientific investigation, professional education and career development in sleep and circadian research as well as academic sleep medicine. The Trainee Symposia Series includes seminars on the science of sleep and circadian rhythms, career development, grant writing, a leadership workshop, mentorship opportunities, breakfast and luncheon expert sessions, as well as social activities for trainees to foster a collegial atmosphere.

In Person Sessions on June 5, 2022

Session 1: 8:00 – 9:00 am
A. The Role of Sleep Hygiene in Improving Sleep Health: Overview of the efficacy and implementation of sleep hygiene interventions. Recommendations and research agenda for promoting sleep health in the general population | Speaker: Dr. Leah Irish

B. History of Sleep and Circadian Science: A personal perspective of the history of sleep and circadian rhythms science emphasizing seminal highlights with comments on the future directions of the field | Speaker: Dr. Mary A. Carskadon

C. Circadian Medicine: Targeted precision medicine taking into account circadian time for treatments and looking to disorders that may have a circadian component | Speaker: Dr. John Hogenesch

D. The Parasympathetic Nervous System and Sleep: How to measure PNS activity in-lab with standard PSG and at-home with wearable devices, examples of PNS dysregulation, what treatments exist, and areas of opportunity for research | Speaker: Dr. Michael Goldstein

E. Sleep and Cognition in the Aging Brain: How sleep physiology alters with age, with independent pathways for men and women, and the impacts on memory function later in life | Speaker: Dr. Sara Mednick

Session 2: 9:10 – 10:10 am
A. Women in Science: How to navigate a research career as a woman, with a focus on negotiations (e.g., salary, hiring), opportunities, leading teams, and work-life balance as a woman. | Speakers: Drs. Terri Weaver, Josiane Broussard, Carmela Alcantara, and Kristen Knutson

B. Sleep: From Researcher to Entrepreneur: Learn principles on how to turn your novel ideas into action: Developing an enterpreneurial drive, identifying opportunities, and scale up your ideas from a “business perspective” | Speakers: Drs. Magdy K. Younes, Olivia Walch, Eliza Van Reen, and Anne Germain

C. Sleep in Space: Further exploration of space beyond low-Earth orbit will require small crews to live in isolation and confnement. Astronauts only achieve approximately 6 h of sleep per night, but what is this sleep really like and how can we develop better interventions to assist in full, restorative rest in space | Speaker: Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans

D. How to Peer Review a Journal Article: Tips for writing an effective peer review of a journal article | Speakers: Drs. Naresh Punjabi and Orfeu Buxton

E. Studying the Role of Sleep and the Circadian System in Cardiometabolic Health and Cognition Across the Lifespan: From In-Lab to Big Data Approaches: Different ways in which we can study the role of sleep and the circadian system in cardiometabolic health and cognition across the lifespan using different methods to increase collaborations and integrate findings from different types of studies | Speakers: Drs. Frank Scheer, Kun Hu, and Susan Redline

F. What is Normal Infant Sleep? A Multidisciplinary Perspective: What an integration of perspectives from the fields of pediatrics, anthropology, psychology, medicine, and sociology can tell us about what “normal” infant sleep is | Speakers: Julie Mallon and Dr. Elaine Barry | A follow up to the virtual session led my Dr. James McKenna

Session 3: 10:20 – 11:20 am
A. Conducting Remote Research Successfully: Lessons from the Pandemic: A discussion of the methods for performing screening and clinical assessments, longitudinal multimodal data gathering (e.g., wearable technology, digital surveys, web-based cognitive testing, collecting and analysis of bio-samples), maintaining participants’ engagement, managing lab resources and more, all from the home. | Speakers: Drs. Katharine Simon and Massimiliano de Zambotti

B. Sleep Architechture and Function for Beginners: A trainee crash course in sleep architecture, particularly in detailing the neurobiological and psychological functions of slow wave sleep and REM sleep | Speakers: Drs. Robert Stickgold and Dante Picchioni

C. Multidimensional Sleep Health and How to Measure It: An overview of measuring sleep health across the lifespan, including special considerations for tools and measurement in pediatrics and understanding how to examine sleep health variables and constructs (e.g., independently vs. composite). | Speakers: Drs. Meredith Wallace and Lisa Meltzer | A follow up to the virtual session led by Dr. Dan Buysse

D. Stress and Sleep Among Native Americans: Stress and sleep among Native Americans, and related implications | Speaker: Dr. Neha John-Henderson

E. The Influence of Socioeconomic Risk on Children’s Sleep Health: How sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors affect sleep health: A developmental perspective from birth through adolescence | Speakers: Drs. Monica Ordway, Ariel Williamson, and Lauren Hale

F. Sleep Circadian Rhythms, and Neuroplasticity: An introduction to evidence that age-related changes to polysomnography-assessed sleep is associated with regionally-specific differences in brain structure and function in older adults, as well as the implications of these findings for Alzheimer’s disease risk. | Speaker: Bryce Mander

Session 4: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Join the Trainee Day speakers and attendees for an informal networking event in the final session of the symposia. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Virtual Sessions May 23-27, 2022

Monday, May 23, 2022 (Time TBA)
Multidimensional Sleep Health and How to Measure It: An overview of measuring sleep health across the lifespan, including special considerations for tools and measurement in pediatrics and understanding how to examine sleep health variables and constructs (e.g., independently vs. composite). | Speaker: Dr. Dan Buysse

Tuesday, May 24, 2022 (Time TBA)
Sleep and Suicide: Risk relationships linking sleep to suicide risk in youth and emerging adulthood. | Speaker: Dr. Peter L. Franzen

Wednesday, May 25, 2022 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm, ET
What is Normal Infant Sleep? A Multidisciplinary Perspective: What an integration of perspectives from the fields of pediatrics, anthropology, psychology, medicine, and sociology can tell us about what “normal” infant sleep is. | Speaker: Dr. James McKenna

Thursday, May 26, 2022 from 6:00 – 7:00 pm, ET
Beyond the Mean: Studying Sleep as an Ever-changing Daily Experience: An overview of intraindividual variability in sleep timing, duration, and quality. Discussion of how theses variations affect sleep/wake patterns, health, and behavior. | Speaker: Dr. Bei Bei

Friday, May 27, 2022 from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, ET
Police Contact and Sleep Patterns During Adolescence and Adulthood: What is known about how adverse police contact (especially among minorities) affects sleep health. | Speakers: Drs. Dylan Jackson and Alexander Testa