SLEEP 2023 to Focus on Sleep Health Disparities, Hypersomnia

Sleep health disparities and hypersomnia are among the topics that will be focused on at Sleep 2023, a conference held in Indianapolis from June 3 to June 7. The meeting will be held entirely in-person this year.

The conference starts on June 3, with ticketed lectures the primary offering for the weekend dates. The general admission sessions begin on June 5, with multiple concurrent sessions on various topics in sleep health, including insomnia, hypersomnia, circadian rhythms, and obstructive sleep apnea.

When asked what she was looking forward to, Rebecca Spencer, PhD, professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Purdue University, said that a main theme of the conference is work on sleep health disparities.

“I think that that’s really an important direction, because then we can really think about where are the important areas for sleep medicine to be focusing on,” she said. “Are we diversifying the populations in the studies that we’ve already done in the past? And really thinking about how that advances our targets for sleep medicine and sleep health.”

This is highlighted in a session taking place on Wednesday, titled “Culturally-Tailored Interventions to Promote Sleep Health Equity Among Black Children and Families,” that will focus on what doctors in sleep medicine can do to close the gap on sleep health through interventions specifically targeted to those they treat.

Spencer also said that sessions on aging in relation to sleep will also be held during the conference. “So really we’re just [going to] run the gamut from [pediatrics] to geriatrics and everything in between,” she said.

Sessions on new technology in sleep medicine will also take a front seat. A session titled “Identifying and Overcoming Barriers for Clinical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Sleep Medicine,” held on June 6, follows in the trend of testing artificial intelligence in streamlining processes on the clinical level. The incorporation of artificial intelligence has been a hot-button topic, and the session will tackle how it can be useful when used accordingly.

The effect of long COVID on circadian rhythms and sleep will be discussed in a panel titled “The Interconnection of Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Long COVID,” also held on June 6. The effects of long COVID are still being studied, and its impact on sleep and circadian rhythms could offer insight into how COVID-19 affects long-term health.

Another topic of interest is in daytime sleepiness, or hypersomnia. A panel titled “Beyond Daytime Sleepiness: Disrupted Nighttime Sleep in Narcolepsy” is set to discuss how daytime sleepiness and narcolepsy are linked beyond the disruption of sleep cycles.

Spencer also said that she’s looking forward to the conference being held entirely in person. “Gone are the days of the pandemic when we were on Zoom, but there is still a tendency to do a lot of things virtually. And what we miss out on are those casual conversations that we have after the talks or after the meetings that I think is where a lot of the kind of true science happens,” she said. Spencer said that she’s looking forward to speaking with other experts after the sessions she attends to get their opinions on new research or new ideas presented.

“That to me is really where we get those ideas that become next year’s conference presentations and the next year’s conference presentations. So I think that’s really what Sleep is going to bring us and why I get so excited to be back there,” she said.

The conference will end on Wednesday evening after 4 full days of sessions on various aspects of sleep health.