Research summary
Sleep problems and metabolic conditions, such as obesity and diabetes, often go hand in hand. As Canada Research Chair in Metabolism and Sleep Neurobiology, Dr. Natalie Michael is studying the connections between these conditions in order to discover new strategies to prevent and treat them along with the cardiometabolic diseases they can contribute to.
Michael and her research team are trying to understand the relationships between sleep and energy homeostasis (the body’s ability to maintain a stable, balanced energy state) by assessing key areas in the nervous system where different neural pathways containing metabolic and sleep/arousal information come together. They are also looking at objective measures of sleepiness in patients who suffer from obesity. They hope to advance our understanding of how sleep disturbances and metabolic diseases interact and to suggest new strategies to prevent and treat the conditions that contribute to chronic cardiometabolic diseases.