More than one-fourth of the adult population of the U.S. suffers from sleep disturbances now known to contribute to disability, morbidity and mortality. Sleep disturbance is entangled in chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and depression; in symptom clusters such as pain and fatigue; and as a consequence of obesity, life-style and work. The long term goal is to build a sustainable model research Center for Sleep-Related Symptom Science with a mission of increasing the conduct of high quality, innovative interdisciplinary biobehavioral sleep research. We propose to create a Center that will serve as a catalyst for investigators to develop the necessary expertise to undertake the measurement of sleep outcomes as well as a promoter of interdisciplinary collaboration and partnerships to enable sustainable growth in the conduct of sleep research.
The specific aims for this Center providing the framework to meet this mission are to: (1) provide a research infrastructure dedicated to sleep-related symptom science; (2) expand the number of research investigators involved in high quality, innovative interdisciplinary biobehavioral sleep research; and (3) enable sustainable growth in research programs prominently including sleep. Two cores, the Administrative Core and the Sleep Measurement Core, are proposed to implement the Center aims. Sustainability is accomplished by: (a) building cadre of translational and clinica researchers for whom sleep is the primary focus of their programs of research; (b) building a critical mass of investigators with sleep as a major variable of focus in their program of research; and (c) engaging investigators in which sleep disturbance is an important component in their program of research, e.g., cardiovascular disease and treatment-related sleep consequences. At the organizational level, sustainability is accomplished by the continuation and integration of Center activities into the organizational structure in the School of Nursing and the broader Johns Hopkins University community.
Sleep is a fundamental physical need. Sleep disturbance is a major public health problem that both contributes to and is affected by illness, such as heart disease and diabetes. Sleep disturbance often co-occurs with other symptoms such as pain, fatigue and depression. The goal of the proposed Center is to expand the number of research investigators involved in high quality, innovative sleep research.
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