S. Justin Thomas, Ph.D., FSBSM, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program, and co-director of Sleep and Circadian Research Core (SCRC), was awarded a $2.8 million RO1 research grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

The grant will fund the project titled Sleep and Circadian Contributions to Nighttime Blood Pressure (SCN-BP), which is an additional study conducted alongside the Improving the Detection of Hypertension (IDH-MEGA) Study. This collaborative project involves investigators from UAB, Columbia University Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente Southern California.

The SCN-BP research will study high asleep systolic blood pressure (SBP) and non-dipping blood pressure (BP) which are prevalent conditions associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Circadian and sleep-related factors contribute to these conditions. Understanding these factors, their alignment with sleep behaviors, and chronotype can lead to interventions for reducing asleep BP, restoring BP dipping, and lowering BP-related CVD.

The proposed study, "Sleep and Circadian Contributions to Nighttime Blood Pressure (SCN-BP)," aims to determine the associations between chronotype, sleep-related factors, mean BP, and BP dipping. Data will be collected through questionnaires and wrist actigraphy from a diverse cohort at three research sites. Participants completing the initial aims will undergo a 30-hour Constant Routine Protocol to assess circadian phase, amplitude, and BP levels under controlled conditions.

This study will generate critical data and examine non-sleep factors' impact on asleep BP and dipping. By combining population science and basic/clinical science approaches, the study will provide insights into differences based on age, sex, race/ethnicity, and antihypertensive medication use. Ultimately, it will facilitate the development of interventions for reducing asleep BP, restoring BP dipping, and lowering BP-related CVD.

Thomas earned a Ph.D. in clinical health psychology with a focus on health psychology and behavioral sleep medicine from the University of Alabama. He completed a clinical internship at the University of Florida and clinical fellowships in behavioral sleep medicine at both the University of Alabama and the University of Florida. Additionally, he pursued a two-year post-doctoral research fellowship on sleep and hypertension at UAB.

Currently, Thomas holds the position of assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He serves as the director of the UAB Behavioral Sleep Medicine program and co-director of UAB Sleep and Circadian Research Core.