The Sleep Research Program for Advancing Careers (SOAR) is a training initiative of the AASM Foundation, designed to support early career sleep and circadian investigators through a structured and mentored grant writing curriculum.
Each year, a small cohort of fellows is selected through a competitive application process to receive guidance and mentorship as they prepare their first NIH career development grant application.
We are proud to introduce the 2025–2026 SOAR Fellows, a remarkable group of emerging leaders in sleep and circadian science.
The SOAR Program is generously sponsored by ResMed.
Monique S. Balthazar, DNP, PhD, APRN
Assistant Professor
Penn State University
Dr. Balthazar is a triple board-certified nurse practitioner with dual doctoral degrees. Her interdisciplinary research bridges clinical practice and science to study socioenvironmental and biobehavioral determinants of sleep and brain health, particularly Alzheimer’s disease risk and cognitive aging.
Courtney Bolstad, PhD
Advanced Fellow in Geriatrics
Birmingham VA Health Care Systems
Dr. Bolstad is a clinical geropsychologist at the Birmingham/Atlanta GRECC. Her research focuses on developing and disseminating cognitive behavioral interventions for REM parasomnias, including CBT for nightmares and behavioral therapies for REM sleep behavior disorder.
Jolynn Jones, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Rochester
Dr. Jones is investigating the link between sleep disturbance and suicidality, focusing on emotional regulation and its neural mechanisms. Her work aims to better understand how disrupted sleep patterns affect mental health and suicide risk.
Nathan Nowalk, MD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Nowalk completed his clinical training in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the University of Chicago, where he also earned a Master of Science in Public Health Sciences. His current research examines cardiometabolic outcomes of hypoglossal nerve stimulation for obstructive sleep apnea. He plans to submit a K23 application focused on therapeutic interventions for OSA.
Dominique Tanner, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
NYU Langone Health
With a background in epilepsy research, Dr. Tanner is now exploring the connections between sleep, Alzheimer’s disease, and health disparities. Her work uses wearable sleep metrics and advanced analytics to examine how sleep disturbances contribute to neurodegeneration in African American/Black populations.
We look forward to supporting these fellows as they pursue impactful, equity-focused research and strengthen the future of sleep and circadian science.
