Research to lose sleep over
This is one in a series of profiles showcasing some of Harvard’s stellar graduates. It’s not uncommon to hear of undergraduates pulling all-nighters to prepare for exams or finish papers. Even though a number of studies have shown that sleep deprivation is unhealthy and can actually be counterproductive, that does little to sway the average student when deadlines loom. So Will Clerx ’14 set out to dig deeper, specifically to study the physiological effects that irregular sleep patterns have on college students. Having served as an undergraduate researcher in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, a Harvard affiliate, Clerx designed and ran an experiment involving 61 of his fellow students. His research helped provide insight into how irregular sleep patterns affect undergraduate performance. And his work is included in the documentary “The Great American Sleep Project,” which will air on the National Geographic network. “There...