Stacey Simon, PhD

Website: https://profiles.ucdenver.edu/display/3663642

For Patients:
My research is focused on better understanding the negative health effects of poor sleep in children and adolescents.

For Referring Providers:
My research focuses on mechanisms underlying the negative cardiometabolic consequences of insufficient sleep and circadian misalignment in adolescents. Short sleep duration and circadian misalignment are believed to contribute to health problems, including obesity and insulin resistance. Adolescence is a time of chronic short sleep duration and a propensity for delayed circadian phase. However, imposed early school start times mean that adolescents are often unable to avoid going to bed late, yet are woken early in the morning during their biological night and out of synchronization with their circadian rhythm. Yet, a gap remains with little information on the relationship between sleep and circadian rhythms and health in adolescents. My current research studies are examining the associations between sleep duration and insulin sensitivity in adolescents, including healthy youth, and teens with obesity, type 1, and type 2 diabetes.