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The National Institutes of Health 2018 Research Conference on Sleep and the Health of Women.

This special section of the Journal of Women’s Health highlights the 2018 Research Conference on Sleep and the Health of Women that took place in Bethesda, Maryland, on October 16–17, 2018. The conference showcased over a decade of federally funded research investigating sleep and circadian rhythms as a fundamental requirement for life, and how they contribute to the health of women. Sleep deficiency (i.e., insufficient sleep duration, quality, timing, and regularity) is prevalent in the general population and associated with a range of adverse health conditions, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, substance abuse, cognitive impairment, and depression. The sex differences in these conditions have been under-represented in sleep research. Thus, the conference assembled diverse groups of stakeholders, including researchers, medical professionals, societies focused on the health of women, and the interested public, to highlight current science regarding the health risks, societal burden, and treatment options associated with the identification and management of sleep deficiency and sleep disorders in women. Presentations and stakeholder panel discussions addressed critical questions on the role of sleep in women’s health, presented advances in the recognition and treatment of sleep disorders in women, and identified gaps and opportunities where future work should focus to promote healthy sleep in women and girls. This event constituted a novel collaborative partnership between the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR) of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), and the HHS Office on Women’s Health (OWH), and participating members of the transNIH Sleep Research Coordinating Committee.* The conference was organized to capture three overarching frameworks: (1) Highlight research advances, focusing on: (a) The burden of sleep deficiency and sleep disorders on women in the United States (b) Sleep-related health disparities among women (c) Biological mechanisms underlying sex differences in sleep (d) Societal/cultural/environmental issues underlying gender differences in sleep. (2) Stimulate translation of research advances for the purpose of: (a) Improving health care practice (b) Informing policy (c) Developing public health programs and educational campaigns (d) Improving sleep health using cross-sector approaches. (3) Identify critical gaps in research as well as barriers to implementation or adoption of existing knowledge, such as: (a) Limitations of current research, and gaps in our knowledge about sleep deficiency and disorders in women (b) Identify underlying social, cultural, environmental, and biological factors that affect sleep in women (c) Create treatment options specific and appropriate for women (d) Develop and improve diagnostic tools and criteria for sleep disorders in women (e) Evidence needed to translate current knowledge into practice.