Racial/ethnic and sex/gender disparities in dementia are well-documented. Growing research suggests that sleep problems in mid-late life may be associated with increased risk for late-life cognitive impairment and dementia. However, whether sleep problems contribute to disparities in cognitive aging remains to be explored. This talk will present the aims and results from three dissertation studies that investigated the implications of insomnia and sleep apnea for gender, racial, and intersectional (e.g., race-gender, race-socioeconomic status) disparities in cognition among older adults. Measurement issues in the current literature and the value of investigating health disparities from an intersectional framework will be discussed. The talk will conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of these findings for future research and the development of targeted individual and systemic interventions aimed at reducing preventable cognitive health disparities in later life.