Andrea M. Landis, PhD, RN

I completed my PhD at Emory University in Atlanta, GA where I explored the association between sleep and obesity in adolescents. The prevalence of adolescent obesity in the United States has more than tripled over the past decades. One modifiable risk factor that has received considerably less, if any, attention is total sleep time (TST).  Recent studies in children and adults; however, have shown that total amount of sleep is inversely associated with body mass index (BMI), an observation not well characterized in adolescents. In addition, TST has the potential to influence selected endocrine systems and metabolic pathways that can cause changes in hunger and satiety, promoting excess eating and leading to obesity. Adolescence may be an optimal time to intervene by addressing some or all of the modifiable risk factors for obesity. Previously studied interventions aimed at diet and activity have had limited success, possibly because of the failure to appreciate the important potential biobehavioral association between appetite regulation and TST.  For my post doctoral work I will continue to focus on adolescent sleep in association to appetite regulation and obesity. 

I am a proud new mother to my daughter Elaine.  I also enjoy traveling (especially to art museums), hiking, knitting, and learning Dutch.

Shuyuann Foreman, PhD, RN

I received my PhD from the School of Nursing University of Washington, Seattle WA. My dissertation work was a secondary data analysis focusing on the maturation of state organization in preterm infants during hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The results suggest that active sleep and drowsy are important states to be recognized when providing individualized developmental care and interventions to preterm infants in the NICU. The unique physiological and environmental experiences of individual preterm infants as well as their gender may contribute to the variations in their sleep development and brain maturation. My current study is to evaluate the clinical use of amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) monitoring using a non-invasive brain monitor on preterm infants in the NICU.

aEEG is a simplified, single channel EEG that is recorded by the cerebral function monitor (CFM). It provides information on the infant’s current brain status in a non-invasive way. aEEG may serve as a helpful tool to evaluate the effects of different types of caregiving and developmental interventions on preterm infants’ brain activity patterns. aEEG technology started to be applied to preterm and full-term infants from the early 1980s, but mostly in Europe. The clinical applications of aEEG in the US are still generally limited to seizure detection and as a screening tool for cooling treatment in full-term infants with hypoxic ischemic head injury. Its application on preterm infant population is still very limited. The current feasibility study is to determine if aEEG recordings can be measured effectively on preterm infants in the NICU. The findings may inform and refine care practices and set better timing for interventions to facilitate preterm infant brain development.

In my personal life, I enjoy chasing two young children and travel.

Ellen McGough, PhD, PT