Get to know Merrick Family Professor in Respiratory Care, Amanda Leightner

Leightner (center) at the Endowed Faculty Installation Ceremony

An endowed professorship is a prestigious faculty position permanently funded by a donation. Endowed faculty positions strengthen Boise State, benefit important research, and create countless opportunities for students. But who are these endowed professors, and what are their plans for helping students thrive?

Amanda Leightner, clinical associate professor in the School of Respiratory Care Sciences, was recently appointed as the Merrick Family Professor in Respiratory Care. The Merrick Family Professorship in Respiratory Care is the first named professorship in the school and supports faculty excellence in teaching, research and clinical practice.

We sat down with Leightner to discuss her area of study and how her endowed professorship role benefits future respiratory care practitioners and patients.

Q: What is respiratory care, and what is your specialty in the field?

A: Respiratory care is a profession all about helping people breathe better, whether you think of respiratory in the intensive care unit on a ventilator, managing chronic lung disease, or being treated for sleep disorders. It's a dynamic field that blends technology, critical thinking and compassion.

My specialty is sleep medicine. I've worked in and taught every aspect of sleep diagnostics and therapy, from running sleep labs to studying how sleep or lack of it affects our overall health. I love that I get to combine hands-on clinical experience with teaching and research that can directly improve patients' quality of life. We all need to sleep, right?

Leightner leads respiratory care students in a simulation where a fictional patient's heart stops and they aren't breathing. Students practice resuscitation techniques, like CPR and intubation, on a manikin

Q: What does your research focus on, and what health challenges do you help solve?

A: My research centers on sleep-disordered breathing, patient adherence to positive airway pressure therapy during sleep [where a machine sends pressurized air into a person's airway to encourage breathing], and how a healthcare practitioner's education and training influence patient outcomes. Many people struggle to stick with their sleep therapy, and I want to understand why and what we can do better as clinicians and educators to support them. In short, I'm trying to bridge the gap between what we know helps people sleep and what actually happens in real-world settings.

Q: How can your research be applied in patient care or to individuals' lives?

A: My goal is always to make research practical and personal. The work I do can help clinicians tailor sleep therapy to each individual whether that's improving mask fit, offering better education or addressing barriers that make patients give up too soon. When someone finally starts sleeping through the night and feels rested for the first time in years, it's life-changing. Their energy, focus and even their relationships improve. I've seen patients go from exhausted and discouraged to feeling like new people. That's what keeps me motivated.

Q: How will this distinguished faculty position and the special funding it provides impact your research?

A: The Merrick Family Endowed Professorship is such a gift. The endowment provides the resources to expand my research and the School of Respiratory Care Sciences' research, and it creates more opportunities for students to get involved. With this support, I can strengthen collaborations, fund student-led projects, and attend conferences where we can share our findings with the broader medical community.

It's also helping me explore new directions, like the connection between sleep health and chronic conditions such as ALS [Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease], and cardiovascular disease. Ultimately, this professorship allows me to amplify the impact of our work far beyond the classroom. It's also helping me dream bigger about how respiratory care can continue evolving to meet tomorrow's healthcare challenges.

Leightner poses with RESPCARE 308 clinical practicum students after they completed their ACLS (advanced cardiovascular life support) training and certification

Q: Could you share your experience with student mentorship?

A: Mentorship is where magic happens! I work closely with students on projects that connect classroom knowledge to real clinical questions. I encourage them to take ownership of their ideas and help them navigate everything from research design to publication. It's so rewarding to see students light up when they realize they're contributing to meaningful change in our field.

Q: What excites you about the projects you're currently working on and the ones you're planning for the future?

A: Right now, I'm thrilled about our ongoing work studying sleep-disordered breathing in hospitalized patients and exploring ways to identify and treat sleep issues earlier. I also collaborated with colleagues on research involving neuro-accounting which uses an electroencephalogram, or EEG, to record the electrical activity of the brain so we can study how people make decisions. I love the interdisciplinary energy that this brings.

Looking ahead, I'm excited to keep pushing the boundaries of how respiratory therapists and sleep specialists can work together to improve patient outcomes. There's so much more to discover about how sleep impacts every part of our lives, and I'm here for it….one good night's sleep at a time.

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