Published February 13, 2025
Sleep apnea is a public health problem. Millions of Americans struggle with this severe chronic disease associated with debilitating symptoms such as daytime sleepiness, impaired sleep, and a decreased quality of life. When untreated, sleep apnea is associated with a variety of risks, including an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke, cognitive decline, metabolic disorder, and depression.
Jonna Morris (PhD, RN), an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Community Systems and a faculty member in the Center for Sleep and Circadian Science, is dedicated to closing the knowledge gap in sleep apnea research. Before transitioning to academia, she worked as a hospital staff nurse, caring for patients with chronic conditions such as heart failure, COPD, and sleep apnea. Witnessing firsthand the challenges these patients faced, particularly the gaps in understanding and treatment for women, she was inspired to pursue graduate studies. Driven by a passion for women's health and a commitment to addressing sex disparities in chronic disease research, Dr. Morris now focuses on uncovering how sleep apnea manifests differently in men and women.
Women typically have milder cases of sleep apnea than men, leading to the perception that women’s symptoms and presentation are also milder. However, Morris's recent study suggests otherwise. Her findings indicate that even a mild classification of sleep apnea can severely impact women’s daytime function and quality of life. This insight highlights the need for further research to better understand how sleep apnea affects women and to improve their diagnosis and treatment.
A Groundbreaking Study on Sleep Apnea in Women
Morris recently secured a $1.7 million R01 grant to investigate sex disparities in sleep apnea severity. Her project, Night-to-Night Variability in Sleep Disordered Breathing: Sex-Specific Predictors and Impact on Obstructive Sleep Apnea Clinical Heterogeneity, aims to develop a more reliable biomarker for assessing sleep apnea severity. By addressing the inconsistencies in diagnosis, her research could help reduce sex and gender inequities in sleep apnea treatment.
As part of the study, 300 participants from two Sleep Medicine Centers will be recruited. Their sleep patterns will be monitored in their home environments over 15 nights to examine night-to-night variability in sleep apnea severity. The study will also assess the impact of sleep apnea on daily symptoms such as sleepiness, fatigue, mood, and stress. Additionally, Morris will explore how gender—defined by sociocultural behaviors, attitudes, and expectations—affects how individuals prioritize and describe their symptoms.
Leveraging Cutting-Edge Sleep Technology
This research will use state-of-the-art sleep technology in patients' homes to measure sleep architecture and respiratory patterns—key indicators of sleep apnea. The technology will allow Morris to monitor participants' sleep over several nights, eliminating the expense and burden for them to visit a sleep lab over multiple nights.
Morris is uniquely equipped to lead this work, having dedicated over a decade to sleep research. As a predoctoral investigator, she received NIH funding to study sex differences in sleep impairment perceptions and symptom presentations, deepening her expertise in women’s health and sleep disorders. Since then, she has gained valuable mentorship and collaborated with many preeminent sleep researchers who helped her to further define and advance her research. As a result of her early research, she has received awards from the American Thoracic Society including the Early Career Achievement Award and the Marilyn Hanson Award for best abstract. The American Thoracic Society is the world's leading medical society dedicated to improving global respiratory health through clinical and scientific advances in research.
Morris’s work has the potential to redefine how sleep apnea is diagnosed and treated, ultimately improving long-term health outcomes for both men and women.