Betty Giblin

Pioneered sleep research

In 1979, Betty Giblin established the UW sleep research laboratory, the nation’s first nursing school sleep research lab. Her research on associations between sleep patterns and illness, including sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s, inspired future research regarding the role sleep plays in many different illnesses. Following Giblin’s lead, the National Institute of Nursing Research made these issues of sleep patterns a research focus area. Thanks to her foresight, the School of Nursing remains one of the only nursing schools in the nation with a sleep research lab.