Kimberly Hutchison, M.D.
Hutchison lands grant for sleep deprivation research
Kimberly Hutchison, M.D., received a two-year, $60,000 Faculty Career Advancement grant from the American Sleep Medicine Foundation (ASMF) at the group's third annual “Discovering the Secrets of Sleep” fundraising dinner.
Hutchison, a clinical fellow in the sleep disorders division of Neurology since 2004, received the grant for her study entitled “Neural Correlates of Adaptation to Sleep Deprivation in Obstructive Sleep Apnea — A Pilot Study.”
Her research deals with sleep deprivation as it affects brain function.
“Because sleep deprivation is becoming commonplace in today's society, we plan to observe the brain changes that occur after 24 hours of total sleep deprivation in two populations: patients with obstructive sleep apnea and healthy controls,” Hutchison said.
The study will use fMRI to measure blood flow changes before and after sleep deprivation while subjects complete certain tasks, and will correlate these results with the degree of sleepiness using the multiple sleep latency test.
The ASMF Faculty Career Advancement grant is meant to fund initial research by offering two-year awards of up to $60,000. ASMF is dedicated to encouraging research that will help the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.