SPOTLIGHTS

Pioneering Sleep Health Research: Addressing the Crisis of Insufficient and Poor Sleep in Children for Lifelong Wellness at UC Irvine RCEMS

August 2, 2024 by daisynm

UC Irvine Health

Ariel Neikrug, PhD
Director of Sleep Health Program

Message from the SLEEP Health Program Director

Sleep is a fundamental pillar of health, essential for physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Addressing the key components of sleep health—sleep amount, timing, efficiency, regularity, quality, and daytime sleepiness—is crucial for preventing health issues and promoting long-term wellness.

Insufficient and poor sleep, particularly in the pediatric population, has reached concerning levels. Poor sleep is not just a symptom but a significant contributor to serious health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. These issues highlight the urgent need for innovative solutions to improve sleep health early in life to prevent disease and support lifelong health.

At the UC Irvine Health Research Center for Exercise Medicine and Sleep (RCEMS), we are dedicated to pioneering research into sleep health. Our work allows for comprehensive characterizations of sleep, pinpointing specific factors and understanding how they relate to other functions and impact disease. This includes understanding how insufficient sleep in children can lead to long-term health consequences, underscoring the need for early and effective intervention.
The journey toward better health starts with understanding the vital role of sleep. By prioritizing research and interventions that address the various components of sleep health, we can transform health outcomes, ensuring individuals enjoy better health, increased productivity, and improved quality of life.

Thank you for your interest in RCEMS. Together, we can uncover new insights and develop innovative strategies to enhance the health and well-being of children and adults, both within our community and beyond.

Ariel Neikrug, PhD
Director of Sleep Health Program
PI, iSLEEP – Interacting Mechanisms of Sleep and Endurance Exercise in Pediatrics
Research Center for Exercise Medicine and Sleep (RCEMS)
Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
School of Medicine, University of California Irvine

Welcome message from the center founder and executive director

April 24, 2024 by jaejink

Pediatric health: A journey of discovery

UC Irvine Health

PERC founder and executive director Shlomit Radom-Aizik, a molecular biologist and exercise physiologist, has opened new research avenues into the molecular transducers of physical activity.

Welcome to the UC Irvine Health Pediatric Exercise and Genomics Research Center (PERC).

We thank you for your interest in PERC and the cutting-edge research we are doing to benefit children today and tomorrow.

We know that the emerging epidemics of pediatric obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome are ominous consequences of physical inactivity in many children.

We also know that children who live with conditions such as asthma, cerebral palsy, spina bifida and acute lymphocytic leukemia must cope with the effects of inactivity because they don’t know how to move safely.

The knowledge we are gaining at PERC is moving exercise science in the direction of personal “prescriptions” for physical activities.

These antidotes to ill health are being tailored to individual profiles, both to promote growth and development in childhood as well as to lay the foundation for better health over a lifetime.

Nationally, our center is the host for a new, privately funded project to develop innovative approaches to embed exercise-as-medicine concepts for children’s health. We are doing this by reaching out to primary care pediatricians, family physicians, school teachers and others in our communities.

It has been exciting to see children improve their health and their outlook on life as a result of exercise and the physical activity research we and others have done. We are very proud of the positive impact this work is having on young people in our local community and beyond.

We invite you to join our journey of discovery as a collaborator, a donor or a research participant.

Shlomit Radom-Aizik, PhD
Founder and Executive Director
UC Irvine Pediatric Exercise and Genomics Research Center

Message from the Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical and Translational Science

April 24, 2024 by jaejink

Now is the time to make children’s health a priority

UC Irvine Health

Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical and Translational Science

We are at a true crisis point for childhood health in our country and around the globe.

Otherwise healthy children are at risk for lifetime illnesses, such as heart disease and stroke, simply because they are living increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

Children with serious health problems, even life-threatening diseases such as leukemia or sickle-cell anemia, are not getting the lifelong health benefits that appropriate exercise can provide.

But the knowledge gap between what we know about the health benefits of exercise in childhood — and what we need to know — is huge.

Pediatric science has not focused research efforts on gaining fundamental information about how something as seemingly simple as exercise can advance health.

The time to transform our approach, to change and to innovate is now. The Pediatric Exercise and Genomics Center can lead the nation in this effort.

Dan M. Cooper, MD
Associate Vice Chancellor, Clinical and Translational Science
Director, UC Irvine Institute for Clinical and Translational Science
Principal Investigator, UC Irvine Clinical Translational Science Award
Professor of Pediatrics and Biomedical Engineering
PERC Clinical Translation Liason