Sleep Across the Lifespan

For the past decade, Dr. Penny Corkum, her colleagues and trainees, have developed and evaluated a range of digital interventions (in both English and French) to support sleep health and treat insomnia in infants to young adults. 

The objectives of the research program will be achieved through the work of a diverse team of researchers, clinicians, knowledge users, trainees, Indigenous Peoples, and people with lived experience of insomnia, in collaboration with the Consortium.

  • Increase sleep health knowledge and healthy sleep practices of all people living in Canada through a national healthy sleep campaign.

  • Close the treatment gap for insomnia across the lifespan.

  • Close the evidence-to-practice gap so evidence-based interventions are being recommended and delivered through the creation of an eLearning PD program for health care providers.

  • Address the equity gap so that all people in Canada can have access to sleep health information, resources, and interventions that they find acceptable.

  • Increase the cultural appropriateness of insomnia interventions for Indigenous Peoples.

  • Mobilize the products created by this research through an online portal.

  • Ensure sustainability of all products created through this research program.

  • Build a bright future for sleep research in Canada through collaboration with the Consortium.

The work will be lifespan focused and will be conducted through three developmentally based research hubs:

Research Hub 1: Infants & Young Children – Lead: E. Keys

Research Hub 2: Children, Adolescents, & Young Adults – Leads: P. Corkum & G. Rigney

Research Hub 3: Adults & Older Adults – Lead: S. Garland

Team Leads

  • Penny Corkum

    NOMINATED PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

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  • Elizabeth Keys

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

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  • Gabrielle Rigney

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

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  • Guido Simonelli

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

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  • Sheila Garland

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

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Meet The Team

  • Jonathan Amoyaw, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Pantelis Andreou, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Melanie Barwick, PhD, University of Toronto

    Sarah Blunden, PhD, Central Queensland University

    Tyler Bonnell, PhD, University of Lethbridge

    Cary Brown, PhD, University of Alberta

    Célyne Bastien, PhD, Université Laval

    Julie Carrier, PhD, Université de Montréal

    Christine Cassidy, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Judith Davidson, PhD, Queen’s University

    Christopher Earle, MD, Memorial University

    Stelios Georgiades, PhD, McMaster University

    Parisa Ghanouni, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Florence Guiliani, PhD, Université Sherbrooke

    Heather Hadjistavropoulos, PhD, University of Regina

    Debbie Martin, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Sandra Meier, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Patrick McGrath, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Patrick McPhee, PhD, McMaster University

    Heather Neville, BScPhm, Nova Scotia Health Authority

    Christine Ou, PhD, University of Victoria

    Richard Paul, Chief Operation Officer of Membertou, Indigenous Elder Liaison

    Marie-Hélène Pennestri, PhD, McGill University

    Maria Rogers, PhD, Carleton University

    Deborah Scharf, PhD, Lakehead University

    Mandeep Singh, MD, University of Toronto

    Jennifer Stinson, PhD, University of Toronto

    Megan Thomas, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen, PhD, University of British Columbia

    Shelly Weiss, MD, University of Toronto

    Manisha Witmans, PhD, University of Alberta

  • Mya Dockrill, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Alzena Ilie, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Maddie Gallant, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Trent Lynds, BSc, Lakehead University

    Mitchell Mathieson, BSc, Dalhousie University

    Matt Orr, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Jocelyn Paul, PhD, Dalhousie University

    Momina Raja, BSc, Dalhousie University

  • Jenny Downs, PhD, Telethon Kids Institute

    Nava Gelkop, Israeli Association for Child Development and Rehabilitation

    Harvey Schott, Aveiro Sleep

    Brett Taylor, MD, Dalhousie University

    Jennifer Thomas, PhD, San Diego State University

    Ramesh Venkat, PhD, Sobey School of Business, Marketing

    Olaf Verschuren, PhD, Utrecht University

    Vicki Woolf, RRT, Sleep Medix

  • Jennifer Borst, IWK Community Pediatrics Division

    Mark Boulos, University of Toronto

    Jill Chorney, Dalhousie University

    Jonah Dupuis, Pharmacist from Northern Ontario

    Lucyna Lach, McGill University

    Malgorzata Rajda, Dalhousie University

    Karen Roberts, Public Health Agency of Canada

    Mary Roberts, University of Alberta

    Charles Samuel, University of Calgary

  • Naomi Chubra

    Lynn Cooper

    Kim Crowe

    Amanda Fitt

    Shelley Flam

    Daniel Nunes

    Connie Putterman

    Annette Rivard

    Ben Seligman

    Jenny Tyler

Research Projects

This program of research will leverage the existing infrastructure to improve access with age-targeted digital programs and resources for insomnia. This will include:

  1. A social media campaign to promote sleep heath

  2. Digital resources about healthy sleep practices including a mobile app

  3. Online insomnia treatments including cognitive and behavioural interventions

  4. Programs for health care providers to learn how to diagnose and treat insomnia

  5. Sleep education programs for teachers to use with their students

All of these resources and interventions will be located in a dynamic Better Nights Better Days virtual portal. Resources will be delivered to the person with insomnia (or their parent), to schools and universities, to work settings, and within hospitals and other care settings. We will also train upcoming researchers to continue to progress in the field of sleep medicine, including the development of insomnia treatments. This project aims to improve knowledge about insomnia and design treatments for Indigenous peoples, and those facing health problems and social and economic disadvantages. Our research will engage users to co-design resources and interventions to enhance acceptability and effectiveness. These programs will be designed for sustainability to ensure accessibility now and in the future. The goal of this research is to give all Canadians, regardless of their age, sex, gender, location, ethnicity, and health status, access to tools and interventions to support them to achieve better nights and better days.