Abstract

Dr. Jennifer Martin is an internationally recognized expert and thought leader in sleep health and sleep disorders research. Her work has focused on evaluating interventions and adapting methods to provide high-quality care to Veterans with sleep disorders. This has been a core focus of her work for over two decades and has had significant impacts on systems of care across VA. The goal of her program of research is to optimize diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders in populations that experience disparities in access and outcomes, including Veterans, women and older adults. Her VA-funded research program is focused on delivering efficient, high- quality care for Veterans with sleep disorders. Her current research focuses on treatment of insomnia disorder and sleep apnea, which are the two most-commonly diagnosed sleep disorders among Veterans who use VA healthcare. Dr. Martin’s work on sleep disorders among Veterans includes multiple collaborative projects evaluating methods to improve Veteran outcomes and increase concordance of clinical care with established evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Her studies focus on sleep disorders among Veterans, specifically, studies to improve diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea and insomnia disorder. Over the past 10 years she has done foundational work on sleep disorders among women Veterans and continues to explore this unmet need. Her prior work shows that women Veterans are not receiving care that is consistent with clinical guidelines, and that adaptations to delivery of care may be needed to optimize engagement and outcomes. Based on a series of studies on insomnia disorder among women Veterans, her team developed and evaluated an adaptation of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia called “acceptance and the behavioral change to treat insomnia (ABC- I). Dr. Martin has engaged in multiple initiatives to educate providers within and beyond VA and has shared the intervention materials (developed and evaluated within VA HSR funded work) to over 200 individual providers, many of whom directly serve women Veterans. This also led to her currently-funded VA Merit Review studying ABC-I compared to CBT-I for Veterans with co-morbid PTSD and insomnia, and provided preliminary data to support (1) a VA HSR CDA for a junior investigator (G. Carlson) at VAGLA studying whether treatment of insomnia increases engagement with trauma-focused interventions for women Veterans, and (2) an application to the Alzheimer’s Association by a junior investigator (Y. Song) to study this novel approach to treating insomnia among caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Martin’s work is closely aligned with the goals of VA HSR, including research on women’s health, mental and behavioral health, and complex chronic disease and healthcare quality. The core methods and approach of her work is based on implementation science methods and frameworks. Her work is extremely valuable to multiple operational partners including the Office of Mental Health and the National Sleep Medicine Program. Dr. Martin’s exemplary track record of mentoring the next generation of VA investigators is unparalleled, and she continues to build and execute high-quality research training opportunities within VA. With continued support through a Senior Research Career Scientist Award, Dr. Martin’s work will positively impact care for Veterans with sleep disorders and improve the experience of health care for all Veterans.

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DRA: None at this time.

DRE: None at this time.

Keywords: None at this time.

MeSH Terms: None at this time.