NIH Reporter #2P20GM139743-06

COBRE Center for Sleep and Circadian Rhythms in Child and Adolescent Mental Health

NIH awarded $2,065,612 to Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital for a Phase 2 COBRE Center focused on pediatric sleep, circadian rhythms, and mental health research, supporting innovative projects on suicidality, microbiome, and cannabis use in teens.

Description

This Phase 2 COBRE will extend progress from Phase 1 for a Center for Sleep and Circadian Rhythms in Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the EP Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island. Links between mental illness and sleep are indisputable; our investigators have begun probing and identifying the links from sleep and circadian rhythms to pediatric mental illness and mental health. Ultimately this science can identify important pathways to prevention and early intervention, not the least because these factors are amenable to behavioral change and to defined therapeutic targeting. Successes from Phase 1 include support for 6 Research Project Leaders (RPLs) and 6 Pilot Project Leaders (PPLs), who explore a wide range of topics. Phase 2 COBRE aims to continue bridging sleep and circadian science and research methods to the research projects of outstanding mental health research projects and associated clinical care that characterize Bradley Hospital. A major objective of this COBRE Center is to create a comprehensive and sustainable resource to support the growth of research in pediatric sleep, circadian rhythms, and mental health while providing mentorship of RPLs to achieve expertise in this field, to bring this knowledge to their clinical work, and to transition to independent scientific careers with external funding. Three promising young investigators propose innovative projects: Project 1: examines the role of nighttime self-critical rumination for suicidality in teens. Project 2: explores how the oral microbiome may play a role in the association of sleep and circadian rhythms to adolescent depression. Project 3: assesses sleep health and physiology in teens who use cannabis. The ultimate goal is to ease the burden of these issues for children, adolescents, and their families through enhancing the scientific research workforce and capabilities.

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