Sleep is both a biological need and a choice, making the study of sleep both fascinating and complex. Insufficient sleep and poor quality sleep adversely impact health and wellness. Yet, 70% of Americans across all age groups experience one or both.
The Sleep Research Lab, directed by Dr. Brandy M. Roane, examines the combined influence of physiological, behavioral, and social factors on health with a specific focus on: (a) exploring links between sleep and subsequent psychopathology and chronic medical conditions, and (b) developing effective prevention and intervention treatments.
Research projects include clinical, laboratory, and public health studies such as experimentally manipulating sleep parameters and examining how these changes impact obesity-related behaviors such as physical activity and eating. The overarching goal of all work conducted in the Sleep Research Lab is to better understand how sleep may act as an environmental variable altering the trajectory of chronic medical conditions and psychopathology. Understanding how sleep influences these conditions would contribute greatly to health and wellness, as sleep is a targetable behavior.