# Sleep and Circadian Contributions to Nighttime Blood Pressure Rhythms (SCN-BP)

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2024 · $157,967

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Dysregulated sleep and circadian disruption are common among adults in the United States. An estimated 30-50% of
adults endorse some form of sleep-related problem, such as short sleep duration (<6 hours/night), poor sleep quality,
presence of insomnia symptoms, or an early or late chronotype (i.e., preference for certain sleep and wake time) that is
at odds with the dominant societal social clock. These sleep problems are being increasingly implicated as significant
contributors to lower cardiovascular health (CVH) and thus subsequently higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity
and mortality. For example, short sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, and evening chronotype are associated with a
number of components to CVH, including obesity, diabetes, and lower diet quality. Consequently, these same sleep-
related factors are associated with a higher risk for new-onset CVD, including coronary heart disease and heart failure.
There are significant health disparities for sleep health, CVH, and CVD. Dysregulated sleep, poorer CVH, and higher CVD
morbidity and mortality are disproportionately distributed across populations, with individuals of non-white
racial/ethnic groups and those overly burdened by socio-, economic-, and environmental disadvantage faring the worst.
Despite these parallel problems among the same populations and the significant extant literature on the sleep-CVD
association, there is a dearth of research on potential ways in which sleep disparities contribute to CVH and CVD
disparities and how to simultaneously address both of these connected problems.
Therefore, the overall research-related goal of this two-year Diversity Supplement proposal is to address the current
need for research on the intersection of sleep and CVD disparities in diverse populations through the following aims: 1)
determine associations of sleep factors, chronotype, and chronotype-sleep timing alignment with left ventricular mass
index, 2) determine associations of sleep factors, chronotype, and chronotype-sleep timing alignment with potential
behavioral (physical activity, diet quality, alcohol use, smoking) and biological (cortisol) mechanisms, and 3) determine
whether these associations differ by individual- and geocoded, community-level social determinants of health. In parallel
to this research, the overall training-related goal of this Supplement is to support Dr. Brittanny Polanka, PhD in receiving
necessary mentorship and career development guidance to become an independent, extramurally-funded principal
investigator in the field of cardiovascular behavioral medicine. In collaboration with a mentorship team including the
expertise of Drs. S. Justin Thomas, Marwah Abdalla, and Mercedes Carnethon, an individualized career development
plan has been created to address mentee training gaps in measurement and processing of objective sleep and circadian
data, use of subclinical assessment markers derived from echocardiography, and methodologic...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11040762
- **Project number:** 3R01HL167230-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephen J Thomas
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $157,967
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2023-06-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11040762

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11040762, Sleep and Circadian Contributions to Nighttime Blood Pressure Rhythms (SCN-BP) (3R01HL167230-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11040762. Licensed CC0.

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