Overview
The University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for BrainHealth has announced the creation of the first-of-its-kind Sleep Innovation Laboratories, under the leadership of world-renowned sleep scientist Matthew Walker, PhD. This initiative aims to to help the public better understand how sleep impacts brain heath, and to translate the latest neuroscience research into evidence-based strategies that can optimize your sleep.Walker joins the faculty at UT Dallas and Center for BrainHealth in January 2026 as the labs' inaugural director. He previously served as a professor at Harvard Medical School and at the University of California, Berkeley, where he led the Center for Human Sleep Science. Walker is the author of the New York Times bestseller and international sensation Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams.“”
“What’s so exciting is there are so many avenues of his sleep [research] that are going to catapult sleep research. ... It really is this gateway that makes people [feel], ‘OK, I’ll go work on my brain health,’ because they might not otherwise know how to embrace what brain health is.”
–Sandi Chapman, PhD, Chief Director of Center for BrainHealth
The labs will also partner with UTD’s School of Engineering and Computer Science. “This is really a big part of our growth as UT Dallas leans into our ability to be multidisciplinary but with an eye towards application in the real world," said Adam Woods, PhD, dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at UT Dallas. Woods anticipates the facility will apply artificial intelligence to gather data on and create solutions for improving sleep, exploring the potential of wearable devices or noninvasive brain stimulation.Walker is excited to help position Dallas as the epicenter of a brain health revolution. “When you look at engineering programs around the country, it’s very hard to find places that beat UT Dallas,” Walker said.Read more at The Dallas Morning News
