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Sleep and circadian timing are fundamental biological imperatives in animals and humans, throughout the lifespan. These biological systems can be challenged by pathology, individual choices, and social/societal pressures, often resulting in sleep loss or circadian disruption (i.e., “sleep deficiency”), and ultimately adverse health and safety outcomes. Advances in the scientific knowledge generated during the last decade indicate the transformative potential of sleep and circadian health for improving the health of the American people, including the development of novel, personalized, preventative and therapeutic strategies for multiple chronic diseases. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society (SRS) created a Task Force with a mandate to engage the sleep and circadian scientific community, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other key stakeholders to help catalyze the implementation of the most time-sensitive research priorities identified in the 2011 NIH Sleep Disorders Research Plan. Given the mounting evidence of the importance of sleep health to overall physical health, behavioral health and safety, together with the rapid advances in basic sleep and circadian science, we need to seize on this opportunity to accelerate translational and clinical research in sleep and circadian rhythms. This white paper represents the proceedings and consensus development at the Joint Task Force on Sleep and Circadian Research Conference held in 2013 in Bethesda, MD. It is directed toward all invested in sleep and circadian research for their consideration, including researchers, educators, patients, professional societies, industry partners, funding-decision and policy makers. This documentation is timely and comes on the heels of a compelling call for an international effort in this area.1 The four major research goals and specific recommendations for each of these goals were identified. These recommendations can be adapted and directed to prioritize research in various populations and clinical settings. Recommendations: Support basic and translational research to identify causal and interacting relationships and mechanisms underlying the impact of sleep deficiency on health throughout the lifespan. Develop tools and biomarkers to assess sleep quality and circadian function, including molecular, cellular, and physiological signals. Identify the genetic variants that predispose to variations of sleep/circadian rhythms and sleep-wake disorders, as well as vulnerability to the effects of sleep loss on behavior, cognition, and health. Investigate the differential vulnerability to sleep deficiency and its adverse consequences with respect to maturational stage, clinical and societal factors such as chronic illness, health disparities due to social, demographic, environmental, and geographic attributes, and health inequalities secondary to racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, or educational attributes. Establish normative age- and gender-specific data for sleep duration, sleep quality and circadian timing using both self-reported and objective sleep and circadian phenotyping in studies that include analysis of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Design and evaluate intervention strategies assessing the wellness impact of improved sleep and circadian alignment on physiological functioning, behavior, health, and well-being throughout the lifespan. Recommendations: The AASM, SRS, and other professional societies and patient organizations should work collaboratively to identify and validate relevant patient-centered outcomes that can be incorporated into clinical practice. Partner with insurers and vendors of electronic medical records to integrate relevant information and outcome measures for common sleep disorders into electronic medical records. Investigate and reduce the impact of chronic disease, healthcare disparity, and inequality on sleep and circadian disorders. Promote the development of personalized sleep/circadian medicine through the identification and validation of individualized approaches to the management of sleep and circadian disorders. Support basic science research for developing new ways of understanding sleep and circadian disorders at a basic mechanistic level to generate new approaches to their diagnosis and treatment. Support research to determine if sleep deficiency/sleep disorders represent modifiable risk factors that can alter the expression and course of chronic diseases. Recommendations: Support the development of specialized infrastructure for clinical research in sleep and circadian disorders, including the establishment of disease registries, national core laboratories, and clinical research networks. Promote the utilization of open source data and tools resources across sites to maximize data sharing and standardization. Establish appropriate governance of networks to ensure they are responsive to the needs of the field of sleep and circadian research broadly, and that they are sustainable. Recommendations: Expand T32 grants to Institutes beyond the NHLBI and explore adding slots to existing T32s in areas such as genomics, systems biology, translational/patient-oriented research and patient-centered outcomes research. Develop additional T32 multi-institutional training grants in areas relevant to the Strategic Plan for sleep and circadian research. Develop electives and resources focused on sleep and circadian health and sleep and circadian physiology for use by professional programs including, but not limited to, medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic), graduate nursing programs, clinical psychology, dental schools, and physician assistant schools. Attract researchers in other fields to address important sleep related research questions through engagement in collaborative research on proposals and encourage the development of innovative mechanisms for interdisciplinary training programs. Sleep and circadian rhythms influence nearly all molecular, cellular, physiological, and neurobehavioral processes. Sleep deficiency and sleep and circadian disorders affect 50 to 70 million Americans with wide ranging consequences for health and safety.2 Phenotypic expression and treatment of numerous medical, neurological and psychiatric disorders is influenced by sleep deficiency. Sleep disorders disproportionately burden disadvantaged populations, underscoring their public health importance and potential to address health disparities in our society. The direct and indirect economic burden to the country is estimated to be in the many billions of dollars. Scientific knowledge generated from this rapidly emerging field has transformative potential, and provides an opportunity for new directions toward improving the health of Americans and worldwide, including the development of novel, personalized treatments of the chronic diseases. The Sleep Research Society (SRS) and American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) created a Joint Task Force to help advance the national sleep research agenda as outlined in the 2011 NIH Sleep Disorders Research Plan.3 This white paper represents the proceedings and consensus development at the Joint Task Force on Sleep and Circadian Research Conference held in 2013 in Bethesda, MD. Participants included Joint Task Force members, representatives of the Trans NIH Sleep Coordinating Committee, Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board (SDRAB) and National Center for Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR), as well as sleep and circadian researchers from the community. The goal of the conference was to develop strategies to implement the opportunities identified in the NIH Sleep Disorders Research Plan. The four major transformative opportunities identified were: (1) to address health and societal impacts of sleep deficiency (insufficient sleep duration and/or sleep quality) and circadian dysfunction; (2) to develop new approaches to improve the outcomes of treatment of sleep and circadian disorders and to address outcomes in the context of personalized patient-centered care and healthcare disparities; (3) to implement research networks and big data informatics to support sleep and circadian research and to serve as engines of innovation; and (4) to train the future generation of sleep and circadian researchers, particularly in the advanced and novel scientific approaches that will be required. As the 2011 NIH Sleep Disorders Research Plan is intended to be a “living” document, stakeholders should frequently review the Plan's recommendations and, if needed, offer further direction about specific research needs or opportunities. This document serves this purpose at this time and is directed toward all invested in sleep and circadian research for their consideration, including researchers, educators, patients, professional societies, industry partners, funding decision and policy makers. It is our intention to move these recommendations into the implementation phase by encouraging exchange of ideas, partnerships and advances in these identified goal areas by stake-holders. Some of the recommendations can be implemented by the Sleep Research Society and/or American Academy of Sleep Medicine, others can be stimulated by the organizations including providing seed resources, others will with will the of individual or of to the in this document a to and the Sleep Research the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the stakeholders will be important in this Sleep deficiency is due to sleep disorders, sleep quality or circadian of Americans and to of of sleep with the of sleep duration the of of the is in at risk for both sleep deficiency and circadian of the of as well as the importance of has the of “sleep as a national in the This funding priorities and and funding for programs through to the of sleep by policy the health care community, and the public at compelling evidence of its are many biological individual and societal and economic that in sleep duration, sleep and/or sleep disorders. These factors often and frequently adverse outcomes. this the “sleep provides an that this in a that can policy and public Sleep deficiency sleep that to through sleep duration or sleep sleep duration as or on in is estimated to be by to of the data from the National Health and the both the of sleep at The of sleep deficiency in is are sleep of American and to sleep of duration, is by the to and/or of sleep or the of The most common of sleep quality are sleep disorders that sleep and circadian sleep circadian sleep-wake disorders, and these disorders, the most are and sleep are estimated to affect to and to of the and ethnic in sleep duration and that in or Americans of sleep and their in a risk of disease, and sleep and can from disruption of circadian timing or the circadian of sleep-wake and the and physical chronic circadian due to work opportunity for sleep of the time for circadian disorders advanced or sleep or Sleep deficiency is with adverse outcomes for safety and health. major public safety is the impact of sleep deficiency on and to the National were in of all and in of in This is not if that of during the to the of were common sleep or during the to other not these sleep deficiency has to risk for disease, including of of and These physiological to sleep and other factors be for the and as well as risk of and other and disorders, as well as behavioral and with sleep deficiency in translational studies are of is a need to the basic science of this in multiple are to the consequences of sleep deficiency at and Given the of work and and their behavioral and physiological studies of circadian are of the of sleep and the the and are to to address sleep deficiency. The evidence sleep deficiency with adverse health and safety consequences that sleep and circadian be in the to improve behavioral and physical health and is to sleep and circadian health for diverse ethnic and in most as they are to engage in work and are to and sleep and sleep the and biological mechanisms of differential sleep and vulnerability to adverse consequences of sleep deficiency is a major for our field and will be the of research at all from to public in the Recommendations: Support basic through translational research to identify causal and interacting relationships and mechanisms underlying the impact of sleep deficiency on medical, and psychiatric disorders. Develop tools and biomarkers to assess sleep sleep quality and circadian function, including molecular, cellular, and physiological in Identify the genetic variants that predispose to variations of sleep/circadian rhythms and sleep-wake disorders, as well as vulnerability to the effects of sleep loss and circadian on behavior, cognition, and health. Investigate the differential vulnerability to the effects of sleep deficiency with respect to clinical and societal factors such as stage, chronic illness, health disparities due to social, demographic, environmental, and geographic attributes, and health inequalities secondary to racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, or educational attributes. These factors influence the or consequences of sleep deficiency for the individual or the community. Establish normative age- and gender-specific data for sleep duration, sleep and circadian timing using both self-reported and objective sleep and circadian phenotyping in studies that include analysis of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Design and evaluate intervention strategies assessing the impact of improved sleep and circadian alignment on physiological functioning, behavior, health, and The health burden by chronic sleep deficiency the potential for sleep to reduce and health care and to improve quality of and public are numerous and behavioral and for treatment of and sleep disorders. including studies and/or studies support use for improving quality of and in with sleep for improving and quality of in with sleep and behavioral for improving function, and quality of in chronic for treatment of in and for for the of and improving sleep quality in and to improve work is a need to the of and infrastructure resources to improve the and treatment of sleep and circadian disorders. of patient-centered treatments for sleep disorders represents an opportunity to improve the health and quality of of Americans and worldwide, particularly in disadvantaged or Research on the sleep/circadian disorders and chronic medical represent a opportunity for the of an adverse effects but are not limited to, behavioral and disorders, chronic adverse and and and diseases. 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Investigate and reduce the impact of chronic disease, healthcare disparity, and inequality on sleep and circadian disorders. Promote the development of personalized sleep/circadian medicine through the identification and validation of individualized approaches to the management of sleep and circadian disorders. Support basic science research on biological mechanisms that for developing new ways of understanding sleep and circadian disorders and new approaches to their diagnosis and treatment. 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The sleep and circadian research should develop electives and resources focused on sleep and circadian health and sleep and circadian physiology for use by professional programs including medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic), clinical psychology, graduate nursing programs, dental schools, and physician assistant schools. The sleep and circadian research should to researchers in other fields to address important sleep related research questions through engagement as on proposals and encourage the development of sleep focused interdisciplinary basic and translational science training funding opportunities. 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