Dr. Sima [HHMI Fellow] is investigating the relationship between sleep disturbances and cancer development. She is dissecting how neurons controlling the sleep-wake cycle affect immune functions that impact cancer. Dr. Sima will also examine the complementary problem of how tumor growth and chemotherapy contribute to sleep issues by analyzing gene expression patterns in neurons that regulate the sleep-wake cycle.  Understanding the cellular mechanisms linking sleep and cancer could pave the way for drugs that help prevent cancer-induced sleep problems and therapeutic approaches that boost immune function to fight cancer.