A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will organize and convene a series of two public workshops to examine the evidence base for the role of sleep (including sleep behaviors, disorders, and neurobiology) and circadian rhythms in health and chronic disease across the lifespan -- from in utero development through advanced age -- and explore potential actions to leverage these domains to benefit public health. The workshops will emphasize research priorities and gaps, methodological approaches, measurement strategies, and research infrastructure.
One workshop will consider the current scientific evidence base and explore research priorities and gaps. It will feature invited presentations and discussions that explore areas such as:

• Opportunities for new collaborative research, including interdisciplinary efforts that synthesize existing research across disciplines, domains, and diseases.
• Topics for potential future funding initiatives by the National Institutes of Health and other funders, with an emphasis on underexplored questions such as:
  ----Environmental, occupational, and socioeconomic determinants of sleep health (e.g., shift work schedules, housing conditions, access to healthcare)
  ----The interface of sleep and circadian health with chronic disease in populations at higher risk of sleep disorders and disrupted circadian processes (e.g., older adults, shift workers, individuals with obesity or metabolic disorders, and those in environments with elevated light pollution, noise, or heat exposure)
  ----Circadian biology in cardiometabolic health, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, certain cancers, mental health, substance use disorders, and disability, including intellectual and developmental disabilities (e.g., Down syndrome, ADHD, and autism) and physical disabilities
  ----Potential causes and implications of sex differences in sleep and circadian health.
• Critical research needed to inform policy and multisector actions to improve public health, for example in the integration of sleep and circadian health across health care settings, strategies for public health education efforts, and addressing sleep and circadian health in rural populations and communities with limited access to sleep medicine specialists or behavioral health services.

A second workshop will examine the current state of sleep research infrastructure and methodological approaches. It will feature invited presentations and discussions that explore areas such as:

• Existing methodologies used to measure sleep and circadian function, and the potential role of new approach methodologies (NAMs) for advancing sleep and circadian science.
• Opportunities for improvements in data infrastructure, resources, measurements, and methodologies relevant to sleep and circadian health research and surveillance.
• Barriers to and opportunities for improving multidisciplinary research, education, and training in sleep medicine and sleep science.

The planning committee will define the specific topics to be addressed, develop the workshop agendas, and select and invite speakers and other participants. Following the workshop series, a proceedings will be prepared by designated rapporteurs in accordance with National Academies’ guidelines and released to the public.