When dependent people stop taking opioids, they don't just feel sick, they also experience serious sleep problems which can last for a long time. McKelvey's research, “Spontaneous daily sleep disruptions associated with morphine dependence and withdrawal in rats,” focuses on understanding how repeated, spontaneous opioid withdrawal affects overall sleep architecture and brain activity.

"I hope that my research will shift the field toward recognizing withdrawal-related sleep disturbances as a meaningful pharmacological target,” she shared.