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Category: Sleep and Performance Research Center

Elson S. Floyd College of MedicineNewsSleep and Performance Research Center

Frank returns from prestigious speaking trip

Professor Marcos Frank in his laboratory.

If you’re a university faculty member, one of the benefits of being good at your work is that people ask you to visit them and give presentations. Many Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine faculty members are asked to do outside speaking engagements, sometimes overseas. For some it has become routine, for others, it’s still a big deal.

For Department of Biomedical Sciences Chair and Professor Marcos Frank, who has built a good name for himself in the world sleep research community, it’s a little of both. Frank frequently receives … » More …

Researching rowers’ sleep habits

This is former WSU graduate sleep researcher Amy Bender.Lisa Roman is a WSU graduate who rowed on the Canadian 'women's eight' 2016 Summer Olympic team.Many of us cheered on our favorite athletes and teams during the recently completed Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Former WSU sleep research assistant Amy Bender (left) had a rooting interest in the Canadian “women’s eight” rowing team (eight rowers plus coxswain). After earning her Ph.D. from WSU in 2015, Bender became a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Calgary and the … » More …

Farewell to Janne Grønli

This is visiting Research Assistant Professor Janne Gronli.

When Research Assistant Professor Janne Grønli (pronounced YAWN-uh GROON-lee) came to WSU Spokane two years ago as a visiting faculty member from Norway, her goal was to gain a deeper understanding of the brain and its role in sleep.

On Friday, she’ll finish her time here having accomplished that. Along the way, she participated in sleep research, co-authored papers with her WSU colleagues and had a wonderful time traveling.

The well-regarded Norwegian sleep scientist – an associate professor at her home institution, the University of Bergen — came … » More …

Stories from the research lab, part two

This week we’re telling you about some of the work Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine research faculty members are doing this summer.

Here is a partial list (with apologies to the faculty we’re omitting):

Sleep and Performance Research Center Director Hans Van Dongen and a group of colleagues announced a $1.7 million grant to develop new ways to help fatigued workers make fewer mistakes on the job.

This is a photo of Associate Professor Jonathan Wisor.Van Dongen and several other WSU faculty and staff attended Sleep 2016, the annual sleep research conference, … » More …

New grant to fund sleep and decision-making research

This is a thumbnail photo of Research Professor Hans Van Dongen.

By Judith Van Dongen, WSU Spokane

Researchers from Washington State University’s Sleep and Performance Research Center received a $1.7 million grant to develop and test cognitive flexibility training to combat the effects of sleep loss on decision-making under rapidly changing circumstances.

Funding for the three-year project comes from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, a partnership between the U.S. Congress, military and public to fund groundbreaking, high-impact medical research.

The project aims to reduce decision-making errors that contribute to failed military missions, industrial accidents, workplace … » More …

Sleep researchers talk shop, go fishing

fish stories 650 pix

(from L-R: Professor Fred Turek, guest lecturer from Northwestern University; Professor Marcos Frank, Research Assistant Professor Jason Gerstner, Associate Professor Jonathan Wisor and Clinical Assistant Professor Christopher Davis)

Who says sleep researchers are all work and no play? These five awakened early one morning last week at Hill’s Resort on Priest Lake in northern Idaho for some fishing, a respite among three days of discussions at the first-ever WSU Sleep and Performance Research Center retreat.

A good part of the three-day meeting (the first day was held at WSU Spokane) was spent developing and critiquing proposals for grant funding to support research. » More …

The new frontier in medicine

Turek 2

When Dr. Fred Turek climbed the steps to the stage in the Phase One building auditorium this morning, he was ready to speak about what he calls “the new frontier in medicine.”

Turek founded the Northwestern University Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology 20 years ago and he’s still its director. He’s one of the most important scholars in the field of circadian rhythms, the study of the internal clock that tells animals when to eat and when to sleep. His interests overlap with some of the work done by the people who … » More …

Celebrating research teams

Davis-Lab 600 pix

Today’s post is about health sciences research teams on the WSU Spokane campus. The photo above features a Medical Sciences team, led by clinical assistant professor Chris Davis (L-R: Davis, technical assistant Teresa Nguyen, research analyst Will Clegern and research assistant Priynaka Bushana).

This week, Davis wrote to tell me that his Ph.D. student, Marcella Oonk, had last week successfully defended her doctoral dissertation: “The Effects of Sleep Loss in Animals.” Congratulations, Marcella!

Though Oonk will be the recipient of her Ph.D. degree, her (and any) dissertation project involves a team … » More …

Four faculty added to WSU Sleep Center

Washington State University’s Sleep and Performance Research Center (SPRC) has added four affiliate faculty members.

Peixoto, Lucia sent 6.11.14 150 pixLucia Peixoto is an assistant professor in the College of Medical Sciences and the college’s faculty adviser to the WSU Spokane genomics core. Her specialty is genomics and computational biology, which she applies to autism spectrum disorder, cognition and sleep. She’s working to understand the underlying molecular basis of autism spectrum disorders and their relationship with intellectual disabilities and sleep impairments.

 

BSharpless02 - Copy 150 pix» More …

Marcos Frank and REM sleep

One of WSU Spokane’s newest sleep researchers is receiving widespread media coverage about a new journal article he and several colleagues published last Friday about REM sleep and its importance in developing the brains of young children. Professor Marcos Frank came to Spokane last summer from the University of Pennsylvania and this article is based heavily on work he and his co-workers did in Philadelphia.

Here’s the link to Becky Phillips’ press release from WSU News, announcing the article in the journal Science Advances.

Media outlets such as ABC, Reuters and the Seattle Times asked for copies of Dr. Frank’s article. … » More …

Elson S. Floyd College of MedicineNewsSleep and Performance Research Center