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Health and Medicine
Date August 6, 2025
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Every May, Brown students leave the classrooms of College Hill behind to pursue a wealth of transformative summer opportunities — from internships and fellowships to research projects and entrepreneurial startups.

Frances Moriniere: Rising early to advance sleep research in dream job

This summer, Brown junior Frances Moriniere is training as a sleep scientist through the Sleep Apprenticeship program at the Warren Alpert Medical School and Bradley Hospital.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Frances Moriniere has always been a morning person, so the early-bird shift has been a perfect fit for the rising Brown University junior during her sleep research lab summer internship.

Guided by the oversight of renowned sleep researcher Mary Carskadon, a Brown professor of psychiatry and human behavior, Moriniere is one of eight students selected to participate in this year’s Sleep Apprenticeship program at the Sleep for Science Research Lab of the Bradley Hospital and Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. 

Moriniere is assisting with several ongoing sleep studies at the lab. Five days a week, she reports to the lab at around 4 a.m. and spends the next five hours participating in research on how sleep affects different aspects of human health and cognition. 

“While we fill out forms and take biological measurements, we also spend time making sure the study participants feel comfortable,” said Moriniere, who is concentrating in cognitive neuroscience at Brown. “There’s a lot of human interaction, which I really enjoy.”

The sleep research laboratory, which is located on the Butler Hospital campus and looks like a private residence, has four bedrooms, testing areas, a biospecimen lab and a computer cluster. As part of her training, Moriniere has practiced applying and removing the electrodes and sensors that measure brain waves through electroencephalography (EEG) as well as eye and chin movement. In addition to becoming familiar with basic lab procedures, the apprentices learn how to monitor breathing, heart rate and other functions during sleep, how to administer cognitive tests and record results, and how to identify the different sleep stages.

“It’s kind of crazy to be working alongside Brown professors like Mary Carskadon who are experts in their field, and to basically attend a private lecture on a topic where you can ask all the questions you want,” said Moriniere, who is working on an independent research project that she’ll present at the end of her apprenticeship about the effects of binge eating disorder on the gut microbiome and sleep. “It’s been a tremendous learning experience.”

Moriniere has also engaged as a research participant. She spent two different nights tucked into a twin-sized bed at the sleep lab with electrodes attached to her head. As part of one study, she was kept up until around midnight — way past her bedtime — and kept nodding off while completing cognitive tasks. 

Mary Carskadon in the Sleep Lab
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The Sleep Apprenticeship program is led by renowned sleep researcher Mary Carskadon, a Brown professor of psychiatry and human behavior.

Sleep apprentices hooking up electrodes in the Bradley Sleep Research Lab
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Training involves learning how to apply and remove electrodes to measure different physiological signals from study participants, and how to read and analyze the data.

Mary Carskadon and Frances Moriniere at the Bradley Sleep Research Lab
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The Bradley Hospital Sleep Research Lab, directed by Mary Carskadon, is an internationally recognized center for sleep research -- and looks like a private residence.

Frances Moriniere in the rooms of the Sleep Research Lab
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Moriniere's internship involves working with study participants who have spent the night sleeping at the Sleep Research Lab.

sleep research measurement tools
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Over the course of the summer, the apprentices become adept at using sleep research tools.

Sleepiness notwithstanding, she was grateful for the chance to experience the experiments from the participant’s perspective.

“Because you’ve been through the protocol yourself, you know what the participants are going through, and it’s nice to be able to relate to them,” Moriniere said. 

Over the course of the summer, Moriniere is assisting with three studies: a project to evaluate the effect of light exposure on circadian phases using wearable technology developed by Eliza Van Reen, who studied with Carskadon and earned a Ph.D. from Brown; a study that looks at risk factors differentiating sleep-dependent memory in kids; and a project led by Carskadon in partnership with Brown researchers Josiah Rich, Ju Park and Susan Ramsey that examines how sleep affects people receiving medical treatment for opioid use disorder. 

For all of the studies, morning-shift researchers are tasked with waking up participants, removing the monitoring equipment, and sending them on their way before cleaning the rooms. 

A more complex protocol for the opioid use study required extra focus, Moriniere said. The participants slept for only 40 minutes, at which point the researchers woke them without revealing what time it was. The researchers then took vital signs as well as saliva samples, offered a meal and activity time, then administered a series of performance tests. After 120 minutes, the participants were sent back to bed. 

“Everything has to be done in a very precise time frame to make sure the data is consistent across participants,” Moriniere said. “It’s really important to stay organized and communicate with others on the team.”

Moriniere learned about the sleep apprenticeship while taking Carskadon’s fall seminar about sleep, circadian rhythms and behavioral health, and she was eager for the opportunity to conduct hands-on research in this field. 

Moriniere, who plays varsity field hockey for Brown, has enjoyed the collaborative nature of the research experience and the chance to work with leading researchers and the seven other apprentices from different colleges and universities.

“Working as a team in the sleep lab has been super fun,” she said. “Everyone has different backgrounds but shares a common interest in sleep science. It’s just really exciting to get to know all these great people and then have the chance to work with them on a daily basis.”

Tags
Research Summer Experiences Undergraduate Research Warren Alpert Medical School

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Summer Experiences

Every May, Brown students leave the classrooms of College Hill behind to pursue a wealth of transformative summer opportunities — from internships and fellowships to research projects and entrepreneurial startups.