Lena Xiao, University of Toronto

Research

Children And Adolescents Continuous Positive Airway Pressure High Flow Nasal Cannula Obstructive Sleep Apnea Randomized Controlled Trial Treatment Effectiveness

Latest papers

Positional obstructive sleep apnea treatments in children: A qualitative study.
Sleep medicine · 2026 · senior author
Disease-modifying therapies for spinal muscular atrophy: Family experience, ethical considerations, and the role of social determinants of health.
Journal of neuromuscular diseases · 2026 · first author
High night-to-night variability in childhood obstructive sleep apnea severity.
Sleep medicine · 2026 · first author

All 19 publications

Latest funding

Facial photogrammetry to predict obstructive sleep apnea in a diverse paediatric population
CIHR · 2024 · Co-investigator
$677,026
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure vs High Flow Nasal Cannula for the Treatment of OSA in Children (CHOSA Trial)
CIHR · 2024 · Principal investigator
$952,425
Real-World Evidence for Canadian Neuromuscular Disease: Establishing a Framework for National Integration of Patient Reported Outcomes, Clinical Registry Data, Healthcare Utilization and Healthcare Associated Costs
CIHR · 2023 · Co-investigator
$1,597,256

All 3 grants and awards

19 publications.

01

Positional obstructive sleep apnea treatments in children: A qualitative study.

Sanchez KYM, Sheth S, Baker A, Narang I, Xiao L

Sleep medicine2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2026.109100 PMID: 42364551

02

Disease-modifying therapies for spinal muscular atrophy: Family experience, ethical considerations, and the role of social determinants of health.

Xiao L, Djordjevic D, Kang S, Gonorazky H, Chiang J, Ambreen M, Nigro E, Law E, Weinstock L, Amin R, McCradden MD

Journal of neuromuscular diseases2026First author

DOI: 10.1177/22143602251375561 PMID: 40900034

03

High night-to-night variability in childhood obstructive sleep apnea severity.

Xiao L, Terrance M, Au CT, Massicotte C, Narang I

Sleep medicine2026First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2026.108784 PMID: 41548262

04

The association between insomnia, chronotype, and positive airway pressure adherence in children and adolescents.

Xiao L, Sarbajna R, Kuyntjes S, Cithiravel N, Amin R, Chiang J, Baker A, Narang I

Sleep medicine2025First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2025.106745 PMID: 40865364

05

Positional therapy for the treatment of positional obstructive sleep apnea in children: A randomized controlled crossover trial.

Xiao L, Baker A, Massicotte C, Reyna ME, Shi J, Wolter NE, Propst EJ, Mahant S, Amin R, Parekh RS, Narang I

Sleep medicine2025First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2025.03.022 PMID: 40174291

06

Volume assured pressure support mode use for non-invasive ventilation in pediatrics.

Cithiravel N, Xiao L, Shi J, Chiang J, Amin R

Pediatric pulmonology2024

DOI: 10.1002/ppul.26721 PMID: 37818782

07

Sleep disordered breathing in infants identified through newborn screening with spinal muscular atrophy.

Chiang J, Xiao L, Nigro E, St-Laurent A, Weinstock L, Law E, Janevski J, Kuyntjes S, Cithiravel N, Tran T, Wolter NE, Gonorazky H, Amin R, SickKids SMA Group

Sleep medicine2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2023.09.019 PMID: 37778092

08

Understanding caregiver experiences with disease-modifying therapies for spinal muscular atrophy: a qualitative study.

Xiao L, Kang S, Djordjevic D, Gonorazky H, Chiang J, Ambreen M, Nigro E, Law E, Weinstock L, McCradden M, Amin R

Archives of disease in childhood2023First author

DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2023-325762 PMID: 37419673

09

The association between sleep quality and obstructive sleep apnea with health-related quality of life in children with obesity.

Xiao L, Voutsas G, Ryan CM, Katz SL, Narang I, Canadian Sleep and Circadian Network, Ayas N, Carrier J, Hanly P, Peever J, Pendharkar S, Skomro R, Narang I

Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine2023First author

DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.10706 PMID: 37409497

10

Polysomnography in hospitalized children: Characteristics and clinical practice at a single tertiary care center.

Sunkonkit K, Alzaid M, Xiao L, Massicotte C, Al-Saleh S, Amin R

Pediatric pulmonology2023

DOI: 10.1002/ppul.26567 PMID: 37378456

Facial photogrammetry to predict obstructive sleep apnea in a diverse paediatric population

Co-investigatorCIHR2024Project Grant

Principal investigators: Narang, Indra

Keywords: Children With Obstructive Sleep Apnea; Diagnostic Accuracy; Facial Photogrammetry; Machine Learning; Quasi-Conformal Geometry

$677,026

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure vs High Flow Nasal Cannula for the Treatment of OSA in Children (CHOSA Trial)

Principal investigatorCIHR2024Project Grant

Principal investigators: Narang, Indra; Mahant, Sanjay; Xiao, Lena J

Keywords: Children And Adolescents; Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; High Flow Nasal Cannula; Obstructive Sleep Apnea; Randomized Controlled Trial; Treatment Effectiveness

$952,425

Real-World Evidence for Canadian Neuromuscular Disease: Establishing a Framework for National Integration of Patient Reported Outcomes, Clinical Registry Data, Healthcare Utilization and Healthcare Associated Costs

Co-investigatorCIHR2023Team Grant: Improving Health and Admin Data and Monitor Rare Diseases

Principal investigators: Amin, Reshma; Osman, Homira; Cohen, Eyal; Hodgkinson, Victoria; Jewett, Gordon; Lochmüller, Hanns

Keywords: Health Services Research; Healthcare Service Utilization; Neuromuscular Disease; Registry

$1,597,256

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Pediatrics
Translational Medicine
Interdisciplinary Studies
Department of Cell & Systems Biology
Clinical Public Health Division
Other

Co-authors at University of Toronto, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Indra Narang

Translational Medicine

9 shared papers, latest 2026

Melissa McCradden

Clinical Public Health Division

1 shared papers, latest 2023

John Peever

Department of Cell & Systems Biology

1 shared papers, latest 2023

Alene Toulany

Interdisciplinary Studies

1 shared papers, latest 2022

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2024

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Children And Adolescents Dear Professor Xiao, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Positional obstructive sleep apnea treatments in children: A qualitative study." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Continuous Positive Airway Pressure vs High Flow Nasal Cannula for the Treatment of OSA in Children (CHOSA Trial)" (2024), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Lena Xiao