Sleep Health

Clinical Academic Group

Sleep health is critical for well-being in children, adolescents, and adults. Healthy sleep is important for cognitive functioning, mood, mental health, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and metabolic health. Adequate quantity and quality of sleep also play a role in reducing the risk of accidents and injuries caused by sleepiness and fatigue, including workplace accidents and motor vehicle crashes.

Short-term sleep deprivation, chronic sleep restriction, circadian misalignment, and untreated sleep disorders can have a profound and detrimental impact on physical health, mental health, mood, and public safety. Chronic insufficient sleep is associated with an increased risk of mortality and contributes to both the individual risk and societal burden associated with several medical epidemics, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.

Emerging data suggest that extending the nightly sleep duration of people who habitually get insufficient sleep is associated with health benefits.

Objectives

The recent Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into Sleep Health (2019) recommended that the Australian Government make sleep health a national priority and recognise its importance to health and wellbeing alongside fitness and nutrition.

While University academic members researching specific areas of sleep science (sleep and breathing, sleep and dementia) have been very successful with fellowships and project funding, we need sleep health translational research driven at the hospital clinician and community level widely across Sydney Health Partners.

Then Sleep Health Clinical Academic Group is leveraging existing research expertise to build collaborations amongst many clinicians in SHP and other academic health centres.

Many sleep clinicians have completed higher degrees but in a sense are “lost to follow up” as they face busy clinical loads in their jobs. The intent is to build on Sleep Health CAG and grow capacity through translational projects focused on improving community sleep health.

Leadership Team

Chairs: Professor Brendon Yee & Dr Sheila Sivam

  • Dr Elizabeth Cayanan
  • Clin A/ Prof Andrew Chan
  • Dr Angela D’Rozario
  • Prof Ron Grunstein
  • Clin A/ Prof Kristina Kairaitis
  • Prof Tim Lambert
  • Dr Elie Matar
  • Prof Bandana Saini
  • Dr Chris Seton
  • Clin A/ Prof Keith Won

Disciplines represented in leadership team
Sleep and Respiratory Medicine, Neurology, Neurobiology, Polysomnographic Technology, Paediatrics, Exercise Physiology, Nutrition, Clinical Epidemiology

SHP Organisations
Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Sydney LHD, Northern Sydney LHD, Western Sydney LHD, The University of Sydney

Get Involved

To join the Sleep Health CAG: please fill out this short survey

Further information and enquiries: email shp-sleephealth-cag.admin@sydney.edu.au