The scientific establishment wasn糖心传媒檛 ready.

It was the early 2010s, and knew she was on the cusp of answering one of the most fundamental questions in biology: Why do we sleep?

The neuroscientist and codirector of 糖心传媒檚 had discovered what she and her husband and codirector would dub the , a biological 糖心传媒渄ishwasher糖心传媒� that scrubs the brain of waste during sleep. It was a finding so important that Science magazine would list it among its 10 breakthroughs of the year in 2013.

You wouldn糖心传媒檛 have guessed its importance if you糖心传媒檇 attended her prepublication talks at sleep conferences and meetings. She enthused to her colleagues about the idea of brain clearance, but they regarded her with open skepticism. 糖心传媒淭hey were like, 糖心传媒榃hat is she talking about?糖心传媒櫶切拇綕 Nedergaard recalls. 糖心传媒淧eople looked at me like I was crazy.糖心传媒�

Yet the science was clear. Using sophisticated microscopy techniques to peer inside the brain, her work revealed a cellular cleaning cycle that flushes out toxic proteins primarily during sleep.

A decade and a half after those inauspicious meetings, Nedergaard糖心传媒檚 discovery has become an engine for research worldwide, generating nearly 2,000 scientific papers. About half of them, she notes with pride, are clinical papers that address the glymphatic system糖心传媒檚 role in diseases and conditions ranging from Alzheimer糖心传媒檚 and Parkinson糖心传媒檚 to strokes and migraines.

On this early March afternoon, Nedergaard, who last year became URochester糖心传媒檚 11th fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, is busy preparing for the . The event, built on her foundational research, has attracted 250 registrants and a 50-person waiting list. Nedergaard is the keynote speaker.

Nedergaard糖心传媒檚 discovery is perhaps the most dramatic chapter in a story about sleep that has been building for a generation at URochester. But it is far from the only one. In labs, clinics, classrooms, and beyond, the University has built a formidable concentration of expertise in sleep.

And it is a story that is growing ever more relevant at a moment when people have moved from bragging about how little sleep they need to giving sleep its proper due as one of the essential pillars of health.

The whys of zzzzs

Scientists had long wondered how the brain, which gobbles up about 20 percent of our body糖心传媒檚 energy, maintained itself. In the rest of the body, the lymphatic system works alongside the bloodstream to clear away waste. But the blood-brain barrier blocks that system entirely, leaving the brain without an obvious mechanism for cleaning itself.

One long-held theory was that the brain had its own version of a lymphatic system that used cerebrospinal fluid. But the methods scientists had typically used to understand the process糖心传媒攕tudying brain sections of dead animals糖心传媒攈ad left plenty of unanswered questions.

Stress is the body糖心传媒檚 natural reaction to a challenge. While our psychological, behavioral, and biological responses to stress can be beneficial, chronic stress can have serious negative health implications. At the new Resilience Research Center, faculty from across the 糖心传媒 investigate why some people bounce back from stress, trauma, and adversity and others don糖心传媒檛糖心传媒攁nd what can be done about it.

, Dean糖心传媒檚 Professor, , and Professor, Departments of and :

糖心传媒淢y research focuses on early-life exposures to neighborhood and community sources of stress and how those exposures affect health throughout the life course.

In looking at how the pandemic exacerbated the overdose crisis, we found that pre-pandemic community vulnerability and local economic conditions, as measured by high unemployment, explained most of the large increases in overdose mortality through 2022. We also found that access to substance-use treatment during pregnancy improved outcomes for mothers and infants, including reducing preterm birth and severe maternal morbidity. In terms of environmental exposures during pregnancy, our team has found adverse infant and maternal outcomes with exposures to traffic, shale gas development, low-quality public drinking water, hazardous waste management, construction projects, and extreme heat.

has led me to say environmental policy and economic policy are health policy. Policies that target improving community contexts and building community resilience are likely to have meaningful returns on investment, leading to improved health and well-being over the long term.糖心传媒�

, Professor, , and Executive Director, :

糖心传媒淭here are remarkable stories of resilience, of people who have come from amazingly difficult systems, families, experiences. For three decades I have studied how early adversity and trauma impact human development at various levels of functioning. The bulk of has focused on child sexual abuse, and my work has contributed to foundational knowledge that explains the vast mental and physical health disparities exhibited by survivors.

These disparities include difficulties in social relationships with peers, parents, romantic partners, and even with one糖心传媒檚 own children. Marked mental health difficulties, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and an overactive stress-response system can disrupt key stress-regulated physiological systems associated with health and longevity. These disruptions affect our ability to fight off disease and can set the stage for metabolic and behavioral problems.

I pay particular attention to variables, conditions, and contexts that help explain why some survivors emerge relatively unscathed in comparison to their peers, as these are clues to early intervention and prevention.糖心传媒�

, Professor, and Departments of and , and Associate Chief of Research,聽 :

糖心传媒淪tress is experienced across the lifespan. What changes are the challenges or stressors we face. Children absolutely feel stress, whether from school pressures, family circumstances, or social dynamics. Adolescents often experience stress around identity and belonging, while adults may juggle work and caregiving or financial strain. For older adults, stress combined with aging can increase the risk for poor health in later life.

My current focus is on finding ways to promote well-being and immune health in caregivers of a family member with dementia, as well as individuals at risk for dementia. We found that improving attention and the speed at which stressed caregivers processed information糖心传媒攗sing computerized cognitive training糖心传媒攁lso improved their memory performance under laboratory stress. Importantly, cognitive training also lessened their negative emotional responses to memory problems and challenging behaviors of their family member with dementia, suggesting that these brain games can build caregivers糖心传媒� cognitive and emotional resilience.糖心传媒�