Category Archive for "Circadian Rhythms"

Patient Advocate Panelist at SLEEP 2023

August 27, 2023

In June, 3,500 sleep professionals converged on Indianapolis to learn about the latest research on sleep and sleep disorders at the SLEEP 2023 conference. I was invited to present a talk about Delayed Sleep Wake Phase Disorder (DSPD) on a patient advocacy panel entitled: Delay in Diagnosis: How Health Disparities, Lack of Awareness, and Payer Policies Ultimately Impact the Patient. It was organized and hosted by Dr. Raman Malhotra, a sleep specialist and past president…

HB 363 in Texas – Establishing a Task Force to Study the Effect of Delayed School Start Times

April 18, 2023

EXCITING NEWS - there is NEW legislation regarding starting school later in Texas! H.B. 363 would establish a task force to study the effect of delayed school start times on students. Start School Later Texas collaborated with Representative Donna Howard regarding the bill in 2021 and were delighted when she filed the bill again in 2023. Here it is in its entirety: 88R2181 JTZ-D By: Howard H.B. No. 363 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN…

Joining the NIH’s Sleep Disorder Research Advisory Board As A Patient Advocate Representative

January 27, 2023

Note: I am honored to be appointed to the NIH's Sleep Disorder Research Advisory Board (SDRAB) to represent the circadian rhythm disorder (CRD) patient community. I wrote the following article for the Circadian Sleep Disorders Network: In December, CSD-N board member Alexandra Wharton virtually attended the NIH (U.S. National Institutes of Health) Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board (SDRAB) meeting. This is the second consecutive term that a CSD-N board member is representing the CRD patient community on…

My Interview on Vice News

January 15, 2022

In March, I was interviewed on Vice News about my experience with Daylight Saving Time. Most people find it difficult to lose an hour of sleep when the clocks shift ahead every spring. But for extreme night owls like myself, it's one of the worst days of the year. You can watch the segment here. I'm encouraged by the 400+ comments - many wrote that they didn't know that Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder was a real…

Part 2 – My Patient Story on SRBR.org

March 1, 2021

This patient story was originally posted on Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR) Night owls have organized and our ranks are growing. Groups like the Circadian Sleep Disorders Network and B-Society are advocating for people with late chronotypes – building awareness of flexible work and school schedules, reducing stigma, and increasing federal funding for sleep research. Late chronotypes (“night owls”) are awake when most people are sleeping for different reasons. Some have a preference or habit for staying up late,…

Did Elvis Have Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder?

August 16, 2020

43 years ago today, Elvis died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis. He was just 42 years old. Although Elvis' actual cause of death was listed as cardiac arrhythmia, his heart attack is now considered to be the result of chronic prescription drug abuse. Beginning in the 1960’s, Elvis developed a dangerous dependency on amphetamines, sedatives and barbiturates. Much has been written about what drove Elvis to self-medicate - was he trying to cope with…

Talk at the Stanford MedX Conference

January 15, 2020

At the Stanford Medicine X conference in September, I gave a talk titled 'Night Owls and Late Chronotypes Unite — Let's Stop Living Against Our Body Clocks.' I explained what Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder is, the challenges of diagnosing it, and its possible causes including recently discovered genetic variants. Attendees learned that the 2017 Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to scientists studying the circadian clock, and that research in how a person's circadian clock affects their…

Circadian Research Abounds at SLEEP 2019

August 11, 2019

I wrote the following article for the Circadian Sleep Disorders Network: On June 8 through the 12, the 2019 SLEEP Conference, the annual meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society (SRS), was held in San Antonio, TX. The 4-day conference presented and discussed the latest developments in clinical sleep medicine, and sleep and circadian research. There were more than 100 sessions, with 24 focused on circadian rhythms - a substantial…

HB 1602 – ‘Healthy School Hours’ Bill in Texas

April 27, 2019

This legislative session in Texas, HB 1602 - 'the Healthy School Hours' Bill - was introduced to the House of Representatives. The bill would prevent all public schools in Texas from starting instruction before 8 am. At the bill's hearing, Start School Later chapter leaders, a NAMI policy lead and a Santa Fe High School student testified in support of it. You can watch the bill's hearing in the Committee on Public Education here and read…

Testifying to the Texas Senate for Start School Later

February 5, 2019

During the interim session, the Texas Senate Education Committee held hearings to evaluate the Texas Education Code. Start School Later Texas proposed that Section 28.082 of the Education Code be amended to state that all Texas public schools should start no earlier than 8:00 am. As the chapter leader for SSL Greater Austin, I testified about the public safety and mental health benefits of beginning the academic day later in the morning. Of course, I made…

Delayed Sleeper

Category Archives: Circadian Rhythms