The Division of Sleep Medicine has one of the premier research programs in the world that is focused on sleep and circadian rhythm research. The research conducted by DSM faculty address the entire breadth of this field, from studies of basic physiology, pharmacology, and neurobiology, to clinical studies, including studies of normal physiological processes during and influenced by sleep, pathophysiology of sleep disorders, treatments for sleep disorders, the impact of sleep on health, to field studies of the effects of sleep loss in various populations and occupations, and epidemiologic studies of sleep and its disorders.
The BWH Division of Sleep Medicine is in the process of expanding its world class program of research in sleep disorders medicine with the appointment of two new chairs in sleep disorders: The Gerald E. McGinnis Professor of Sleep Medicine and the Peter C. Farrell Professor of Sleep Medicine, which will be focused on the impact of the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders on cardiovascular disease.
The BWH Division of Sleep Medicine is continuing to expand its program of circadian rhythm research as well as applied research. A major objective for future goals is to focus on translational research in the areas of circadian rhythm sleep disorders and the development of mathematical model-based solutions to work scheduling, public policy, sleep and cardiovascular disease and the genetic basis of sleep disorders.