Sleep Research Society Foundation Small Research Grant Program
| Issue Date: | July 1, 2023 |
| Application Due Date: | September 8, 2023 |
| Grant Selection Notification: | By November 30, 2023 |
| Amount of Grant: | $5,000 for 1 year |
The AASM Foundation is partnering with the Sleep Research Society Foundation (SRS Foundation) to fund small research grants in sleep research. The Small Research Grant Program is designed to support the research of trainees and early career investigators who otherwise do not have the institutional resources to support new studies and/or do not have a sustained record of external funding. The SRS Foundation Small Research Grant Program is intended to provide seed funding to support training and research to ultimately allow individuals to successfully apply for or complete career development grants (e.g. K-awards).
The maximum that may be requested is $5,000. Awards may be used to compensate participants (on-line or in-person), purchase supplies, purchase small equipment, run lab tests and assays, or pay research assistants. Funds may not be used for salary or travel to conferences, and no indirect costs will be granted to the awardee’s institution.
These grants are available to all levels of trainees (undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, early career investigators) and are intended to fund relatively inexpensive studies. These studies can support thesis development, collection of pilot data, proposals for early career extramural funding or completion of early career grants.
Meet the 2022 Grant Recipients
Jamila Battle, MD
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Dr. Battle’s project seeks to address knowledge gaps in how differential strains of marijuana affect sleep and how putative sleep-promoting properties of cannabis are communicated to users. She will do this by assessing cannabis training content related to sleep, the practices of cannabis dispensary staff and medical prescribers with respect to recommendation of cannabis strains for sleep disorders, and examine the chemical components of cannabis products that are marketed for sleep.
Gonzalo Labarca, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Dr. Labarca’s project will determine whether a beat-to-beat analysis of blood pressure in response to a respiratory event will help in identifying a high-risk population of arterial hypertension and health outcomes, in addition to current OSA driven metrics such as the sleep apnea-specific hypoxic burden. He will do this by collecting pilot data from people with moderate to severe OSA and merging the signal from the sleep test with the beat-to-beat analysis, and calculate the ensemble averaging to determine the change in blood pressure in response to apnea or hypopneas.
Harry Smith, MS
University of Bath
Mr. Smith’s project will investigate the molecular responses of human skeletal muscle tissue, which contain robust circadian clocks, to different feeding patterns in a 24 hr. period. The funds of this grant will help complete the biochemical analysis of the samples collected to date and further improve the understanding of how feeding patterns influence circadian rhythms.
Melanie Stearns, PhD
Mississippi State University
Dr. Stearns’ project seeks to characterize the relationship between sleep among grandparents raising grandchildren (GRG) and their grandchildren to understand how contextual factors contribute to and moderate the relationship between GRG and grandchild sleep. Clarifying these associations and their moderators has the potential to better inform and design interventions regarding GRG and grandchild sleep. The pilot data obtained will also prepare Dr. Stearns to develop and be competitive for larger grants.
Lena Xiao, MD
The Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. Xiao’s project will explore the presence of insomnia in children with known OSA as well as its impact on PAP adherence. She will assess the association between the presence of insomnia and OSA by using the Insomnia Severity Index questionnaire and PAP therapy adherence. The finding may elucidate the impact of coexisting insomnia on PAP adherence and inform future targeted management strategies to improve PAP adherence in children with OSA.