Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory

sleep lab logo

Administrative Research Center (ARC), Room A29
3100 Marine Street
Boulder, CO 80309-0554
phone: 303-735-1923

Lab Director

Research Interests

  • Health and safety consequences of sleep and circadian disruption
  • Influence of sleep and circadian rhythms on human physiology (neuroendocrine, metabolic and immune function) and behavior (sleepiness, memory, learning, mood, cognitive and motor performance) with application to public health and safety
  • Countermeasures to improve sleep, wakefulness, and health

Current Research Projects

  • Impact of sleep and circadian disruption on the human microbiome and related changes in human physiology and cognition
  • Biomarkers for insufficient sleep and circadian rhythms and circadian disruption (metabolomics and proteomics)
  • Effects of light exposure on circadian rhythms, sleep, and health
  • Countermeasures to improve sleep and wakefulness
  • Mechanisms of Delayed Sleep Wake Phase Disorder

Persons interested in volunteering to participate in one of these studies should visit the sleep study participant page.

Personnel

  • Visiting Professor: Hee-Jin Im, MD, PhD
  • Postdoctoral Fellows: Luisa P. Marot, PhD, Dana Withrow, PhD
  • Graduate Students: Virginia Edwards, Zoe Meredith, Maeve N. Sheehy, BS, Korey Smith, BS
  • Professional Research Assistants:  Finn Livingston, BA, Ellis Noteboom, BA
  • Post-Baccalaureate Students: Adelaide Mullen, BA, Brennyn Lewis, BA, Michael Thomas, BA
  • Undergraduate Students: Hannah Abbey, Matthew Azud, BA, Abigail Binns, Jaxon Cook, Jordan Copeland, Aisha Dhungel, Shalin Gala, Caroline Greene, Emmaline Ha, Kavana Jagadish, Isis Jenkins-Callendar, Dennis Kondratenko, Isabelle Lattimer, Bella Macarelli, Andrea Munguia, Maya Nanos, Tyler Rambo, Anja Rohan, James Roland, Sarah Smith, Hayden Stephens,  Isabella Tersini, Kate Timothy, Anastacia Trubetskaya, Ryan Wyngarden

Current Member Biographies 

Lab Alumni Biographies

 

CU Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory members 2024

                                                      Sleep and Chronobiology Lab 2024

 

 

Diversity Statement

Professor Wright and members of the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory are committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusive excellence.  We value diverse viewpoints and believe that science is improved by the integration of diverse perspectives. Team members work closely together to conduct rigorous research activities at the cutting edge of sleep and circadian science in a professional, collaborative, respectful, safe, open, and supportive environment/community. We seek participation from all groups in our research team, and we encourage applications from trainees with diverse backgrounds, including, but not limited to, diversity of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, socioeconomic status, and age.

 

Colorado Sleep and Circadian Research Symposium

The Colorado Sleep and Circadian Research Symposium brings together speakers from diverse areas of circadian and sleep research for a one-day meeting each year on the Â鶹ÊÓƵ campus.

 

T32 Training Grant for Graduate Students and Postdocs

This NIH supported training program aims to recruit, select and retain outstanding trainees, promote inclusive excellence, provide high quality training, educational, and career development experiences to prepare trainees for research-intensive and research-related careers; shape tomorrow’s scientific leaders, foster rigorous and collaborative sleep and circadian science, ensure successful progress of trainees toward predetermined milestones defined in Individual Development Plans; and expand the number of investigators conducting transdisciplinary sleep and circadian science.

For more information visit T32 Training Grant or email kenneth.wright@colorado.edu.

 

R25 Multi-Institutional Summer Research Training Grant for Underrepresented Undergraduate Students

This NIH supported multi-institutional training program aims to provide summer research, educational, and professional development experiences to prepare undergraduate students from underrepresented populations in the U.S. Biomedical Sciences (UBR trainees) for advanced academic training in PhD and MD/PhD programs, foster their pursuit of sleep and circadian science careers, and to promote a diverse workforce.

For more information visit R25 Multi-Institutional Training Grant or email kenneth.wright@colorado.edu.

 

Annual University of Colorado Sleep and Circadian Summer School

The Annual Colorado Sleep and Circadian Summer School will be hybrid.  Approximately 50 trainees will be selected to attend the summer school in person and have access to the full program. Some educational offerings will also be made available virtual.  For more infomration and application materials please see: Summer School Webpage

 

Opportunities for Undergraduate Students

  • The requirements for undergraduate students who want a research experience in our Laboratory are:
    • A strong desire to obtain research experiences prior to graduate school, medical school, or advanced study in a health-related field
    • Minimum commitment: One year
    • Minimum hours/week when testing subjects: 8-10 hours (includes journal club)
    • Minimum experience: No prior experience required
    • Must be willing to work with a team
    • Must be able to work various hours during the day, at night, and on weekends.
  • UROP, independent study, honors thesis, and concurrent BA-MS opportunities are available.
  • For more information, contact sleep@colorado.edu

 

Opportunities for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows

  • Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow training is available contingent upon research funding.
  • For more information, contact Kenneth.Wright@colorado.edu

 

Recent Publications

  • Beale AD, Hayter EA, Crosby P, Valekunja UK, Edgar RS, Chesham JE, Maywood ES, Labeed FH, Reddy AB, Wright KP Jr, Lilley KS, Bechtold DA, Hastings MH, O'Neill JS. Mechanisms and physiological function of daily haemoglobin oxidation rhythms in red blood cells. EMBO J. 2023 Oct 4;42(19):e114164
  • Broussard JL, Knud-Hansen BC, Grady S, Knauer OA, Ronda JM, Aeschbach D, Czeisler CA, Wright KP Jr. Influence of circadian phase and extended wakefulness on glucose levels during forced desynchrony. Sleep Health. 2024 Feb;10(1S):S96-S102
  • Chaput JP, McHill AW, Cox RC, Broussard JL, Dutil C, da Costa BGG, Sampasa- Kanyinga H, Wright Jr KP. The role of insufficient sleep and circadian misalignment in obesity. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2023 19 (2), 82-97.
  • Cox RC, Blumenstein AB, Burke TM, Depner CM, Guerin MK, Hay-Arthur E, Higgins J, Knauer OA, Lanza SM, Markwald RR, Melanson EL, McHill AW, Morton SJ, Ritchie HK, Smith MR, Smits AN, Sprecher KE, Stothard ER, Withrow D, Wright KP Jr. Distribution of dim light melatonin offset (DLMOff) and phase relationship to waketime in healthy adults and associations with chronotype. Sleep Health. 2024 Feb;10(1S):S76-S83
  • Cox RC, Ritchie HK, Knauer OA, Guerin MK, Stothard ER, Wright KP Jr. Chronotype and Affective Response to Sleep Restriction and Subsequent Sleep Deprivation. J Biol Rhythms. 2024 Feb;39(1):35-48.
  • Cox RC, Wright KP Jr, Axelsson J, Balter LJT. Diurnal variation in anxiety and activity is influenced by chronotype and probable anxiety-related disorder status. Psychiatry Res. 2024 Aug;338:116006
  • Dunster GP, Hua I, Grahe A, Fleischer JG, Panda S, Wright KP Jr, Vetter C, Doherty JH, de la Iglesia HO. Daytime light exposure is a strong predictor of seasonal variation in sleep and circadian timing of university students. J Pineal Res. 2023 Mar;74(2):e12843.
  • Fritz J, Huang T, Depner CM, Zeleznik OA, Cespedes Feliciano EM, Li W, Stone KL, Manson JE, Clish C, Sofer T, Schernhammer E, Rexrode K, Redline S, Wright Jr KP, Vetter C. Sleep duration, plasma metabolites, and obesity and diabetes: A metabolome-wide association study in US women. Sleep 2023 46 (1), zsac226
  • Gauglitz JM, West KA, Bittremieux W, Williams CL, Weldon KC, Panitchpakdi M, Di Ottavio F, Aceves CM, Brown E, Sikora NC, Jarmusch AK, Martino C, Tripathi A, Meehan MJ, Dorrestein K, Shaffer JP, Coras R, Vargas F, Goldasich LD, Schwartz T, Bryant M, Humphrey G, Johnson AJ, Spengler K, Belda-Ferre P, Diaz E, McDonald D, Zhu Q, Elijah EO, Wang M, Marotz C, Sprecher KE, Vargas-Robles D, Withrow D, Ackermann G, Herrera L, Bradford BJ, Marques LMM, Amaral JG, Silva RM, Veras FP, Cunha TM, Oliveira RDR, Louzada-Junior P, Mills RH, Piotrowski PK, Servetas SL, Da Silva SM, Jones CM, Lin NJ, Lippa KA, Jackson SA, Daouk RK, Galasko D, Dulai PS, Kalashnikova TI, Wittenberg C, Terkeltaub R, Doty MM, Kim JH, Rhee KE, Beauchamp-Walters J, Wright KP Jr, Dominguez-Bello MG, Manary M, Oliveira MF, Boland BS, Lopes NP, Guma M, Swafford AD, Dutton RJ, Knight R, Dorrestein PC.W Enhancing untargeted metabolomics using metadata-based source annotation. Nat Biotechnol. 2022 Jul 7. doi: 10.1038/s41587-022-01368-1.
  • Hartstein LE, Diniz Behn C, Wright KP Jr, Akacem LD, Stowe SR, LeBourgeois MK. Evening Light Intensity and Phase Delay of the Circadian Clock in Early Childhood. J Biol Rhythms. 2023 Feb;38(1):77-86
  • Marot LP, Tibiletti Balieiro LC, do Vale Cardoso Lopes T, Rosa DE, Wright KP Jr, de Castro Moreno CR, Crispim CA. Meal timing variability of rotating shift workers throughout a complete shift cycle and its effect on daily energy and macronutrient intake: a field study. Eur J Nutr. 2023 Jun;62(4):1707-1718.
  • McHill AW, Melanson EL, Wright KP Jr, Depner CM. Circadian misalignment disrupts biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk and promotes a hypercoagulable state. Eur J Neurosci. 2024 Jul 25. doi: 10.1111/ejn.16468
  • Morrison CL, Winiger EA, Wright KP, Friedman NP. Multivariate genome-wide association study of sleep health demonstrates unity and diversity. Sleep. 2024 Feb 8;47(2):zsad320.
  • Mühlematter C, Nielsen DS, Castro-Mejía JL, Brown SA, Rasch B, Wright KP Jr, Walser JC, Schoch SF, Kurth S. Not simply a matter of parents-Infants' sleep-wake patterns are associated with their regularity of eating. PLoS One. 2023 Oct 5;18(10):e0291441.
  • Murray JM, Stone JE, Abbott SM, Bjorvatn B, Burgess HJ, Cajochen C, Dekker JJ, Duffy JF, Epstein LJ, Garbazza C, Harsh J, Klerman EB, Lane JM, Lockley SW, Pavlova MK, Quan SF, Reid KJ, Scheer FAJL, Sletten TL, Wright KP Jr, Zee PC, Phillips AJK, Czeisler CA, Rajaratnam SMW; International Association of Circadian Health Clinics. A Protocol to Determine Circadian Phase by At-Home Salivary Dim Light Melatonin Onset Assessment. J Pineal Res. 2024 Aug;76(5):e12994. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12994.
  • Rice A, Sather O, Wright KP, Vetter C, Martin MA, de la Iglesia HO. COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions increase the alignment in sleep and light exposure between school days and weekends in university students. Sleep. 2023 Jul 11;46(7):zsad059.
  • Thompson RS, Bowers SJ, Vargas F, Hopkins S, Kelley T, Gonzalez A, Lowry CA, Dorrestein PC, Vitaterna MH, Turek FW, Knight R, Wright KP Jr, Fleshner M. A Prebiotic Diet Containing Galactooligosaccharides and Polydextrose Produces Dynamic and Reproducible Changes in the Gut Microbial Ecosystem in Male Rats. Nutrients. 2024 Jun 6;16(11):1790.
  • Wang W, Yuan RK, Mitchell J, Zitting KM, St. Hilaire MA,  Wyatt JK, Scheer AJL, Wright Jr KP, Brown EN, Ronda JM, Klerman EB, Duffy JF, Dijk DJ, Czeisler CA. Using Kleitman’s forced desynchrony protocol to 2 assess the intrinsic period of circadian oscillators and estimate the contributions of the circadian pacemaker and the sleep–wake homeostat to physiology and behavior in clinical research.  Nature Protocols  2023. 18 (2), 579-603

Funding 

  • 2023-2028,  NIH R01 HL159647 NIH/NHLBI Pathophysiology of Circadian Rhythm Delayed Sleep Wake Phase Disorder (Wright MPI/Zee MPI)
  • 2023-2028  NIH R25 NS 125603, NIH/NINDS  "Multi-Institutional Summer Undergraduate Research Program to Promote Diversity and Excellence in Sleep and Circadian Research Careers (PI/PD :Wright)
  • 2022-2027, NIH R01 HL165343, NIH/NHLBI "Biomarkers for Peripheral Circadian Clocks in Humans" (PI: Wright)
  • 2020-2025 T32 HL149646 NIH/NHLBI  "Transdisciplinary Training in Sleep and Circadian Rhythms" (PI/PD :Wright)