Student Solutions for Better Sleep: Shark Tank Innovations

This post was written by high school students from the Summer Research Boot Camp in the lab of Andrew Fuligni at UCLA, supported by UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent, and led by Ava Trimble, Jasmine Hernandez, and Clare McCann.

By Anaya Mckail, Eldana Arega, Ashton Adibi, and Isabella Villalvazo

Adolescence is a time of significant physical, emotional, and cognitive development, leading to rapid changes and concerns about bodies and behaviors. At the UCLA Summer Research Adolescent Boot Camp, participants explored questions about sleep, such as why it takes so long to fall asleep or get out of bed and if it’s possible to make up for lost sleep. On the last day, participants were tasked with creating a Shark Tank–type invention to improve adolescent sleep quality and duration.

Divided into four groups, participants brainstormed ideas. Some focused on apps or purchasable devices, while one group chose to improve sleep using existing resources. One idea was not a new invention but a program or curriculum. We proposed adding a section on adolescent sleep and the brain to the mandatory high school health curriculum. Our reasoning was that limited education was the root problem; adolescents can’t understand the consequences of their actions to their health without knowledge. We planned to incorporate a unit in the health curriculum to educate students on the importance of adequate sleep and ways to improve sleep behavior. To test this program, we would use a control group and conduct a long-term study to see if it improved sleep quality and duration. If successful, it would become part of the mandatory health curriculum, helping teens understand the science behind sleep and apply their knowledge to their daily lives.

Another group took the app and additive product route and used information about the correlation between sleep and stress. Adolescents need eight to ten hours of sleep each night, but many don’t get enough due to social stressors and activities that cut into sleep time. These stressors keep the mind aroused, preventing a good night’s rest. Our idea was to create ingestible gummies and gum paired with an app. The gummies for night and gum for day would be flavored with ingredients targeting specific issues identified through a quiz on the app, such as stress or sleep. The app would allow users to track their sleep, communicate with others facing similar issues, and more, all monitored and backed by professionals. We hoped that by using snacks and a media app, adolescents would care more about sleep and its impact on their wellbeing.

Group 1’s invention, Teens Need Sleep (TNS), is a third space in schools and an interactive app designed to address adolescent mental health issues impacting sleep. Main causes of mental illness in adolescents include lack of sleep, trauma, and stress, affecting their sleep quality and duration. Since many adolescents struggle with these issues, it makes sense to address them at schools, where they spend most of their time. The TNS app offers resources like stress remedies, hotlines, and sleep trackers, staffed by trained teen volunteers available 24/7. Our aim is to support middle and high school students, measuring effectiveness through quarterly surveys. The TNS space in schools will provide a safe environment for managing stress and improving sleep habits, similar to LAUSD’s Well-Being Centers, but available at all schools across Los Angeles.

All in all, these four days were an experience we won’t forget. Although we won’t be able to come back next summer, this program will definitely impact our futures. Whether it is affecting how we view adolescents around us, the college we go to or the major we decide to pursue, our sleep schedule, and most of all how we act now after the Boot Camp or as a future parent of an adolescent with their development in day to day decisions, one being to apply for the UCLA Summer Research Adolescent Boot Camp.