Announcing the Winners of the 2024 Labfront x Garmin Health Sleep Research Grant

We're excited to announce the winners of the 2024 Labfront x Garmin Health Sleep Research Grant. This grant supports researchers dedicated to uncovering the critical role of sleep in health and well-being using Garmin actigraphy. Each awardee will receive five Garmin vívosmart®5, a one-year Labfront Advanced account, and the Labfront Actigraphy Duo analytics package, totaling a value of approximately $4,250 USD. 

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Meet The Winners

Dr. Michelle Garrison, Purdue University

GAMERS: Gaming, the Media Environment, and Restful Sleep

Dr. Garrison's project explores harm reduction strategies for late-night media use, aiming to balance screen time benefits with potential sleep disruptions. By examining detailed data on media habits and physiological responses, the study seeks to understand how these factors impact sleep and how mindfulness techniques can mitigate negative effects.

Dr. Jack Peltz, State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport

The Real Sleep Project

Dr. Peltz is investigating how sleep and stress are connected by using at-home sleep EEG and heart rate variability (HRV) data from college students. By leveraging advanced tech like the Garmin vívosmart®5  and Muse S headband, the study aims to bring real-world insights into how these factors interact. The goal is to develop new protocols that better understand sleep and stress, with plans to expand the participant pool and include more objective stress measurements.

Dr. Nicolò Pini, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Advancing Sleep Health Research in Early Life Development

This project aims to explore the link between sleep quality and cardiovascular responsiveness in children aged 2-3 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. By collecting sleep and heart rate variability data from 100 children using Garmin vívosmart®5 devices over seven days, the study will assess the impact of poor sleep on heart health. This research, funded by the NIH, seeks to provide valuable insights into how sleep habits in early childhood can affect long-term health outcomes, particularly in low-middle income settings. The findings will help develop culturally-appropriate interventions to promote better sleep health in early life.

Dr. Martin Dresler, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour

Nightly Dance – Dynamics of Mother, Father, and Child Sleep Interactions

Dr. Dresler is studying how new parents manage nighttime caregiving and its impact on their health and the baby's development. By following couples from pregnancy until the baby is six months old, the study uses wearables to track baby crying, parent-baby proximity, and parents' sleep and stress. The goal is to understand how these behaviors evolve over time and whether they predict health problems, ultimately helping to design better support and prevention programs for new parents.

Dr. Ruben Fossion, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

Tracking Sleep and Health Risks in Residential Care Settings

This study will shift the focus from reactive to preventive healthcare for older adults in residential care. By using Garmin vívosmart®5  smartwatches, researchers will monitor sleep patterns, heart rate, and physical activity over two weeks to study their impact on health outcomes. The study will also measure C-reactive protein levels to detect chronic inflammation. Over the following six months, negative health events like delirium, falls, and hospitalizations will be tracked. The goal is to identify major risk factors and, in future research, develop interventions to improve health outcomes and promote preventive care.

Kylee West, University of Iowa

Experimental Determination of the Causal Effects of Sleep Variability on Metabolic Physiology in Humans

Kylee West's project examines the impact of sleep onset variability on cardiometabolic health. Epidemiologic evidence shows that inconsistent sleep times are linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. To explore this further, the study will experimentally alter sleep onset times in healthy adults with normal sleep durations. By measuring changes in glucose regulation, insulin sensitivity, and cardiovascular responses, the research aims to establish a causal link between sleep variability and metabolic health. The findings could have significant implications for preventing diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

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We're proud to support these researchers in their efforts to advance our understanding of sleep's role in health. For more information on our grant opportunities, please visit labfront.com/grant