Michelle Garrison

Michelle Garrison serves as Professor and Head of the Department of Public Health at Purdue University, holding courtesy appointments in Human Development and Family Science and Psychological Sciences. Her leadership focuses on advancing public health through rigorous research in sleep equity and media-health intersections, directly addressing societal challenges in health disparities and behavioral interventions.

Her academic foundation includes:

• PhD in Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Public Health (2006)
• MPH in Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Public Health (1999)
• BA in Plan II Honors and Microbiology, University of Texas at Austin (1997)

Dr. Garrison's research program centers on Sleep Equity—encompassing interventions, epidemiology, and policy impacts—and Healthy Media Use, with specialized expertise in mindfulness-based harm reduction approaches. She pioneers family-centered interventions and health behavior change methodologies, emphasizing adaptation for vulnerable populations and evaluation frameworks that maximize real-world generalizability. Her work critically examines how social determinants shape sleep health outcomes across diverse communities.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals dominant trends in screen-sleep relationships across developmental stages, melatonin utilization patterns in pediatric populations, and community-engaged approaches to vaccine decision-making. Over half of her 2024 output addresses sleep health disparities through epidemiological and intervention lenses, while emerging work explores intersections of autism, gender identity, and mental health.

As director of The Sleep Equity Lab, she cultivates interdisciplinary collaboration to develop scalable interventions that bridge clinical practice, public policy, and community needs. Her operational framework integrates pragmatic trial designs with continuous quality improvement methodologies, ensuring research directly informs healthcare system enhancements and evidence-based policymaking.