Dr. Evelina Pajėdienė is a neurologist and certified sleep medicine expert whose clinical and research work focuses on sleep–wake regulation and neurological health—making her insight particularly valuable to sports medicine, where optimal sleep is a performance accelerator and recovery catalyst.

Her recent study mapped diurnal variations in clock gene expression and sleep–wake rhythm biomarkers in acute ischemic stroke patients, revealing early-morning desynchrony that may parallel recovery and resilience processes—not dissimilar to recovery dynamics in athletes. This underscores the importance of circadian alignment in high-demand situations.

In elite sports settings, the impact of sleep on performance is well documented: short sleep and poor quality are linked to reduced reaction time, impaired decision-making, and increased injury risk. By bridging her neurology and sleep research with principles of athletic performance, Dr. Pajėdienė is uniquely positioned to advise on sleep-informed strategies—such as timing of training and recovery, sleep hygiene protocols, and wearable-based sleep monitoring—to support athlete resilience and injury prevention.

As President of the Lithuanian Society of Sleep Medicine and leader of the European Academy of Neurology’s panel on sleep–wake disorders, Dr. Pajėdienė champions rigorous, evidence-based approaches to sleep optimisation, which are essential to high-stakes sports performance and rehabilitation.