Full Name
Laura K Barger
Job Title
Assistant Professor
Organization
Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Speaker Bio
Dr. Laura K. Barger is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physiologist in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
She earned an undergraduate degree in engineering at Michigan State University. She has Master’s Degrees from California State University, Sacramento (Exercise Physiology) and from Harvard Medical School (Clinical Science) and a PhD from University of California, Davis (Physiology).
Dr. Barger’s research has focused on the health and safety risks associated with the work hours of various occupational groups, including resident physicians, police officers, flight controllers, maritime bar pilots and federal air marshals. She has directed NASA-sponsored research projects including the largest study of the sleep of crewmembers on spaceflight missions. As part of the Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group, Dr. Barger implemented sleep health education and screening for common sleep disorders in 67 fire departments across the country, describing the prevalence of the risk of sleep disorders in firefighters and their associations with adverse health, safety and behavioral outcomes in the research journals and Firehouse.
Additionally, Dr. Barger is a retired Lieutenant Colonel having spent 20 years in the United States Air Force Reserve with over 10 years of operational aviation experience as a navigator on the KC-135 Stratotanker. Her last assignment was at Headquarters Air Combat Command where she was responsible for development and analysis of fatigue countermeasures for pilots.
She earned an undergraduate degree in engineering at Michigan State University. She has Master’s Degrees from California State University, Sacramento (Exercise Physiology) and from Harvard Medical School (Clinical Science) and a PhD from University of California, Davis (Physiology).
Dr. Barger’s research has focused on the health and safety risks associated with the work hours of various occupational groups, including resident physicians, police officers, flight controllers, maritime bar pilots and federal air marshals. She has directed NASA-sponsored research projects including the largest study of the sleep of crewmembers on spaceflight missions. As part of the Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group, Dr. Barger implemented sleep health education and screening for common sleep disorders in 67 fire departments across the country, describing the prevalence of the risk of sleep disorders in firefighters and their associations with adverse health, safety and behavioral outcomes in the research journals and Firehouse.
Additionally, Dr. Barger is a retired Lieutenant Colonel having spent 20 years in the United States Air Force Reserve with over 10 years of operational aviation experience as a navigator on the KC-135 Stratotanker. Her last assignment was at Headquarters Air Combat Command where she was responsible for development and analysis of fatigue countermeasures for pilots.
Speaking At
