SLEEP Empowers Lab Staff

Mattina Davenport, PhD
Principal Investigator
Mattina.Davenport@NationwideChildrens.org

Mattina Davenport, PhD, is a pediatric sleep medicine and population health scientist investigating pediatric sleep disparities. She is a Principal Investigator in the Center for Child Health Outcomes Research at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. She leads the SLEEP Empowers Lab, where her research focuses on multigenerational family sleep health, addressing and closing systemwide sleep care gaps, and population health prevention strategies. Her foundational NIH NHLBI K01 funded research successfully utilized clinical health informatics (e.g., machine learning, bias mitigation methods, and natural language processing) to build clinical prediction models. Her current research portfolio has expanded to employing methods for defining and advancing the emerging subfield of precision population sleep health. By integrating advanced public health informatics, behavioral sleep medicine, community-based participatory methods, and prevention science, her work dynamically maps the patient sleep care journey to identify exactly where and why high-needs families experience clinical attrition across the lifespan. Furthermore, Dr. Davenport’s lab serves as the founder for the SLEEP Friendly Cities initiative, empowering communities to co-create solutions and utilize digital virtual laboratories to safely simulate and optimize equitable, place-based sleep health prevention strategies prior to real world implementation.

Ariana Calloway
Clinical Research Project Coordinator/ Project Manager
Ariana.Calloway@NationwideChildrens.org

Ariana earned a bachelor's degree in public health sociology from The Ohio State University in 2022, followed by an master's of public health with a concentration in social, behavioral and health education sciences from Emory University in 2024. Her research interests are centered on using community-engaged and qualitative research methods to understand and address health disparities affecting children in historically minoritized communities. Through her work, Ariana aims to contribute to the development of effective, equitable health interventions that improve outcomes for underserved populations.

Shivaani Sarweswaran
Research Intern
Shivaani.Sarweswaran@nationwidechildrens.org

Shivaani is a junior at The Ohio State University pursing a biology degree on the pre-med track and joined the Sleep Empowers Lab in Fall 2025. She is passionate about advancing health education and increasing access to knowledge within the healthcare sphere. Through personal experience and extracurricular involvements, Shivaani has witnessed firsthand the impact of health disparities many families face in accessing equitable care and health information. These experiences inspired her commitment to promoting health equity and patient advocacy through community engagements. She is excited to contribute to the Sleep Empower Lab's mission of improving health outcomes within sleep research and empowering underserved communities with evidence-based interventions.

Niena Diallo
Research Intern
Niena.Diallo@nationwidechildrens.org

Niena Diallo is a second year master of public health student specializing in health behavior and health promotion at The Ohio State University. In 2023, she earned her bachelor’s degree in international studies with a concentration in international relations and diplomacy. Niena currently serves as a research aide with the Sleep Empowers Lab, where she helps support research focused on advancing sleep equity efforts through community-engaged research. Her academic and professional interests include global health, policy and reducing health disparities among underserved populations. She plans to attend medical school to pursue a career as a physician in global health, integrating medicine, research and public health to promote health equity.

Kennedy Hampton
Undergraduate Research Aide

Eden Eyayaw
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Eden.Eyayaw@nationwidechildrens.org

Eden is a senior at The Ohio State University majoring in biology on the pre-med track with a minor in spanish. As an undergraduate research assistant in the Sleep Empowers Lab, she studies pediatric sleep health and collaborates on community-based projects focused on improving sleep equity for children and families. Her previous research experiences at Nationwide Children's strengthened her interest in pediatric health, preventive medicine and the role research can play in advancing health equity. She hopes to become a pediatrician who combines clinical care, preventive medicine, research and community partnerships to help children and their families thrive.

Alex Blake
Research Student
Alex.Blake@nationwidechildrens.org

Alex is a sophomore at The Ohio State University studying neuroscience on a pre-MD/PhD track. His fervor for sleep health began with understanding its significance in cognitive and physical well-being. This led him to explore barriers that underserved communities might face in receiving quality sleep and sparked a broader passion for tackling the intersection of where prevention, medicine and research meet. Alex aspires to advance sleep health to ensure that all communities have equitable opportunity to thrive.

Rishit Kapoor
Research Intern
Rishit.Kapoor2@nationwidechildrens.org

Rishit is a sophomore at The Ohio State University pursuing a degree in biology on the pre-med track. During his semester with the SLEEP Empowers Lab at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Rishit contributed to systematic literature screening using Covidence and assisted in developing key annotation guidelines for precision population sleep health research. Driven by a strong interest in pediatrics, he aims to combine his clinical aspirations with evidence-based research to improve pediatric health outcomes and address healthcare disparities in diverse communities.

Alicia Hoskins
Research Student

Alicia is a sophomore at The Ohio State University pursuing a degree in biology on the pre-dental track. She is passionate about preventative healthcare and improving health outcomes for children and adolescents. Through her work as a college mentor for kids, Alicia has had the opportunity to work with children from diverse communities throughout Columbus, which has strengthened her interest in understanding how social and environmental factors influence health and development. Alicia is a member of the SLEEP Empowers Lab at Nationwide Children’s, where she is developing her research experience and exploring how sleep patterns and socioeconomic factors affect adolescent health and development. As a future dental professional, she is particularly interested in the connection between sleep, oral health and overall well-being. Alicia hopes to use her experiences in research, mentorship and healthcare to advocate for children and families and contribute to more accessible, preventative and equitable care.

Chase Lobos
Research Student

Chase is a sophomore at The Ohio State University majoring in neuroscience and music on a pre-med track. He has over eight years of experience performing classical viola and hopes to combine music and medicine for families across communities. He has also worked in childcare for years, and actively leads and supports numerous nationwide programs to help aid impoverished families across the United States. His mission is to support all families with equal and sustainable healthcare across the nation, as well as work to ensure families receive high-quality, patient focused care.

Brianna Donigan
Research Student

Brianna is a senior at Denison University pursuing a degree in psychology and neuroscience. Her passion for neuroscience began through a personal experience that showed her firsthand how neurological health can affect individuals and their families. This experience has driven her to explore the connection between the brain, behavior and mental health. She is particularly interested in understanding neurological and psychological processes and how research can improve the lives of others. She looks forward to graduate study and a career focused on understanding and supporting mental health and neurological well-being.