An Overview

The Sleep Research Project was created in 1988 at The University of Memphis when our group received our first grant from the National Institute on Aging to study daytime sleepiness in older adults with insomnia by use of pupillometry. We have since enjoyed continuous funding from a series of grants from the National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Drug Abuse, private foundations, and industry.

The Sleep Research Project is a research/clinical training program now housed within the  clinical psychology program, Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama. It is staffed by Professor Kenneth Lichstein, psychology post docs, graduate students, and undergraduate students. We also have close collaborative relationships with sleep disorders centers, sleep specialist physicians, statisticians, and methodologists.

The main goals of the Sleep Research Project are:

1. Investigate the mechanisms and treatment of sleep disorders from a behavioral sleep medicine perspective.

2. Study insomnia with an emphasis on insomnia in older adults.

3. Train clinical psychology graduate students to become competent, well rounded clinicians, scientists, and specialists in behavioral sleep medicine.