Guido Simonelli, M.D.

Assistant Research Professor
Department of Medicine, University of Montreal
guido.simonelli@umontreal.ca

Training

M.Sc. in psychology, University of Montreal [in progress]
M.D. Facultad de Medicine, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral biology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, United States

Research interests

My current work focuses on the relationship between sleep, public health and human performance. My research program focuses on two complementary research axes: 1) Characterizing the environmental, social and behavioral determinants of sleep health; 2) Characterizing cognitive, physical and mental sleep health outcomes.

Methodological approaches

Actigraphie, polysomnographie, questionnaires, Tâches mesurant des performances cognitives et physiques.

Fundings

Junior 1 salary award from the Quebec Research Fund - Health
Years: 2021-2025

Grant from the Office of Naval Research Global
Title: Chronobiology of Antarctic Isolation: the use of Belgrano II Antarctic Station as a Space Analogue
Role: Co-principal investigator
Years: 2020-2022
Amount: $ 211,762 (USD)

Grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada
Title: COHESION Study: COvid-19, HEalth and Social InteractiOn in Neighborhoods 2020-2023
Role: Co-researcher
Years: 2020-2023

Grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation
Title: COHESION - A Pan-Canadian Infrastructure for the Collection and Visualization of Longitudinal Data
Role: Co-researcher
Years: 2020-2021
Amount: $ 332,000

MEI grant, COVID-19 fund
Title: Cohort study on perceptions, attitudes, work spaces, social contacts and mental health (COHESION study)
Role: Co-researcher
Years: 2020-2021
Amount: $ 120,000

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant
Title: Social representations of sleep in urban and rural areas in Quebec
Role: Collaborator
Years: 2020-2023
Amount: $ 99,465

My team

Xavier Michaud

Research Assistant

B.Sc. Candidate
Université de Montréal

Anthony Levasseur

Research Assistant

B.Sc. Candidate
Université de Montréal

Selected publications

Simonelli G. (In-Press 2020) Disparities in sleep health and potential urban interventions: the challenge of unintended consequences. Chest.

Alger S, Brager A, Balkin T, Capaldi V, Simonelli, G. (2020). Effect of cognitive load and emotional valence of distractors on performance during sleep extension and subsequent sleep deprivation. SLEEP. Zsaa013. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaa013

Folgueira A, Simonelli G, Plano S, Tortello C, Cuiuli J, Blanchard A, Patagua A, Brager A, Capaldi V, Zimmerman A, Aubert A, Barbarito M, Golombek D, Vigo D. (2019). Sleep, napping and alertness during an overwintering mission at Belgrano II Argentine Antarctic station. Scientific Reports. Jul 26;9(1): 10875 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46900-7

Simonelli G, Mantua J, Gad M, St Pierre M, Moore L, Yarnell A, Quartana P, Braun A, Balkin T, Brager A, Capaldi V. (2019). Sleep extension reduces pain sensitivity. Sleep Medicine. Feb;54:172-176. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2018.10.023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2018.10.023

Simonelli G, Marshall NS, Grillakis A, Miller C, Hoyos C, Glozier N. (2018). Sleep health epidemiology in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review, and meta-analysis of the prevalence of poor sleep quality and sleep duration. Sleep Health, Jun; 4(3):239-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2018.03.001

Simonelli G, Dudley K, Weng J, Gallo L, Perreira K, Shah N, Alcantara C, Zee P, Ramos A, Llabre M, Sotres-Alvarez D, Wang R, Patel S. (2017). Neighborhood factors as predictors of poor sleep in the Sueño ancillary study of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). SLEEP. Jan 1;40(1):zsw025. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsw025

Projects

Chronobiology of Antarctic Isolation: the use of Belgrano II Antarctic Station as a Space Analogue

This study is a one-year longitudinal study evaluating the chronobiological impact of a wintering mission in Antarctica. We are studying a total of 20 healthy crew members (including scientists and military personnel) who will spend a year at the Belgrano II research station in Antarctica. Belgrano II comprises a series of scientific research facilities on the continent more specifically at Nunatak Bertrab, facing the Weddell Sea (77 ° 51S and 34 ° 33W). The primary objective of this study is to assess changes in sleep, circadian patterns, social interactions, mood, alertness, and decision-making among crew members during this mission to a year in Antarctica.

COHESION Study: COvid-19, HEalth and Social InteractiOn in Neighborhoods

COHESION is a longitudinal study aimed at capturing perceptions and attitudes towards COVID-19 and related societal containment measures, spaces for daily activities, sleep, social interactions as well as the mental health of individuals and households across Canada throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. https://etudecohesion.ca