Naval Research grant to fund new sleep-studies lab.
University researchers' ability to evaluate the impact of sleep deprivation on police officers, military personnel, first responders, and others working in 24/7 operational settings received a major boost in early June.
That's when the Department of Defense's Office of Naval Research awarded a $610,000 grant to Bryan Vila, a professor of criminal justice and a senior researcher at WSU's Sleep and Performance Research Center located on the Riverpoint campus at WSU Spokane. The grant will allow the center to construct a Critical Job Tasks Simulation Laboratory.
Lab to grow Spokane research facilities
Slated to be operational in 2009, the new facility will be fully integrated with the existing residential sleep laboratory at Riverpoint. The combined facilities will provide researchers with a controlled, yet realistic, operational environment to study the effects of sleep and sleep deprivation.
"With the addition of this new lab, we'll have a full-fidelity sleep/wake/work research facility that allows us to bridge the gap between controlled studies that rely on abstract laboratory tasks and naturalistic field studies," said center director Gregory Belenky. He believes the combined labs will be the only such integrated resource in the world.
Research applies to police, soldiers
In collaboration with Dr. Belenky and center assistant director Hans Van Dongen, Dr. Vila-a former police officer and U.S. Marine who is currently a professor of criminal justice specializing in police fatigue issues-will use the new lab to study the impact of sleep deprivation on the performance of experienced police officers. The research translates directly to war fighters and military peacekeepers who face similar physiological and cognitive challenges.
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More about WSU's Sleep and Performance Research Center
More about WSU's Criminal Justice Program
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