Title
Sleep Specialist
Company
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Bio
Dr. Dayna A. Johnson, PhD is a sleep epidemiologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University in Atlanta GA. She received her doctorate degree in Epidemiologic Science from the University of Michigan and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Harvard Medical School. Her research is aimed at understanding the root causes of sleep health disparities and their impact on cardiovascular disease by 1) addressing the social and environmental determinants of sleep disorders and insufficient sleep; and 2) investigating the influence of modifiable factors such as sleep disorders and disturbances on disparities in cardiovascular outcomes. More specifically, Dr. Johnson’s research further explicates the social contributors to racial/ethnic disparities in sleep by quantifying the contribution of social, household-level and neighborhood-level factors with objective and well-validated subjective measures of insufficient sleep using data from different epidemiologic cohort studies. Her research primarily investigates sleep patterns and sleep disorders among African Americans. Dr. Johnson is exploring how stress reduction programs and improvements in the home environment can improve sleep and reduce subsequent risk of poor health outcomes. She has over 60 publications, was featured on CBS as a sleep expert, and her research has been highlighted in a number of popular magazines, websites and podcasts.
Lecture:
Racial Disparities in Sleep Across the Lifespan: The Role of Contextual Factors
Dr. Johnson will provide an overview of racial and socioeconomic disparities in sleep. She will discuss contributors to sleep disparities across the lifespan with providing examples from empirical research on contextual factors and sleep.Saturday, November 14, 2020