Ariel Williamson
Biography
Dr. Ariel A. Williamson is Associate Professor at The Ballmer Institute for Children's Behavioral Health and in the Department of Psychology (clinical area) at the University of Oregon, where she directs the Behavior, Emotions, Development and Sleep (BEDS) Lab. Dr. Williamson is a clinical psychologist and Diplomate in Behavioral Sleep Medicine (DBSM) with expertise in pediatric sleep health inequities and behavioral interventions. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Oregon Health & Science University, providing clinical care in the Sleep Clinic at Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Her research uses a socio-ecological approach to understand how multiple factors (child; family; school; healthcare system; neighborhood and socio-cultural context) contribute to child sleep problems, inequities, and developmental outcomes. Dr. Williamson’s intervention research applies implementation science principles and community-engaged methods to promote pediatric sleep health and treat sleep problems in primary care and in partnership with community organizations.
Dr. Williamson serves on the board of the Philadelphia-area Beds for Kids program, which provides beds, bedding, and sleep education for children living in poverty and without an individual bed. She is also a sleep expert for the Pediatric Sleep Council, a free, evidence-based resource with information about early childhood sleep for families and clinicians. Dr. Williamson is a member of the Society for Pediatric Research. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NICHD, NHLBI, NIMH), the Sleep Research Society Foundation, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation. Dr. Williamson is deeply honored to have received national award recognizing her work, including the 2023 Carole L. Marcus Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Thoracic Society, the 2023 Arthur Spielman Early Career Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, the 2024 Clinician Investigator Rising Star Award from the Sleep Research Society, and the 2026 American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology (Health Psychology area).
Dr. Williamson is not accepting new doctoral students for the current graduate admissions cycle.
Representative publications (underline = trainee, * = community or family partner):
Williamson, A.A., Powell, M., Luberti, A., Lawton, G., Min, J., Dudley, J., Wu, J., Makeneni, S., DiFiore, G., Nekrasova, E., Kelly, M., Rapposelli, A., Massey, J., Uwah, E.A., Tapia, I.E., & Fiks, A.F. (2025). Implementing an electronic health record-integrated pediatric primary care sleep screener. JAMA Network Open, 8(8):e2525346. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.25346.
Williamson, A. A., Davis, B., Okoroji, C., Cicalese, O., Ayala, A., Boling-Smith, K., Harvey, B., Honore, R., McMillan, L., Kratchman, A., Laberee, R., Cathrall, H., Fiks, A. G., Mindell, J.A., & Power T. J. (2025). Family partnerships to support equity and cultural humility in pediatric intervention research. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 50(8): 754-765. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsaf032 .
Williamson, A. A., Min, J., *Fay, K., Cicalese, O., Meltzer, L.J., & Mindell, J.A. (2023). A multi-method evaluation of bed provision and sleep education for young children and their families living in poverty. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 19(9):1583-1594. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.10614. PMID: 37086055.
Williamson, A.A., Soehner, A.M., Boyd, R.C., Buysse, D.J., Harvey, A.G., Jonassaint, C.R., Franzen, P.L., Goldstein, T.R. (2022). A protocol for applying health equity-informed implementation science models and frameworks to adapt a sleep intervention for adolescents at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Frontiers in Public Health, 10:971754. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.971754. PMID: 36311565.
Williamson, A. A., Okoroji, C., Cicalese, O., Evans, B. C., *Ayala, A., *Harvey, B., *Honore, R., Kratchman, A., Beidas, R. S., Fiks, A. G., Power T. J., & Mindell, J. A. (2022). Sleep Well!: An adapted behavioral sleep intervention implemented in urban primary care. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 18(4): 1153-1166. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.9822. PMID: 34910624 PMCID: PMC8974371
Williamson, A. A., Milaniak, I., Watson, B., Cicalese, O., Fiks, A. G., Power, T. J., Barg, F. K., Beidas, R. S., Mindell, J. A., & Rendle, K. A. (2020). Early childhood sleep intervention in urban primary care: Caregiver and clinician perspectives. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 45(8): 933-945. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jaa024.