There are many challenges to the management of sleep disorders. There is mounting evidence that sleep problems promote impaired memory and thinking and ultimately dementia. My research will focus on improving detection and management of sleep disorders using cutting edge technologies in different patient groups with the aim of maximising brain health. This will be achieved by a range of new treatments including clinical trials, digital health approaches and new ways of improving deep sleep.
Innovative Neuroscience To Improve Treatment Of Sleep Disturbances For Prevention Of Depression And Anxiety
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$645,205.00
Summary
Insomnia patients have disturbed sleep and symptoms similar to people with depression and anxiety. Treatments are far from optimal and have not progressed since the beginning of the century. My pioneering work identified insomnia patients at risk of depression and anxiety and revealed a potential way of targeting disturbed sleep to resolve emotional distress. Now, my mission is to understand why they are at risk and develop innovative treatments that reduce their risk for depression and anxiety.
A Scalable Insomnia Program During The Pregnancy And Postpartum Periods: An Effectiveness-Implementation Hybrid Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$877,335.00
Summary
Persistent sleep problems are common during pregnancy/postpartum periods and have significant consequences. Cognitive behavioural interventions are efficacious for improving sleep but are not currently available in perinatal care. This study examines the effectiveness, cost- effectiveness, and implementation potential of an innovative nonpharmacological intervention for better maternal sleep and wellbeing, with high potential for sustainable integration with routine perinatal care.
Identifying A Modifiable Risk Factor For PTSD: Insomnia-related Disruption Of Trauma Recovery Mechanisms
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,072,993.00
Summary
About 4.6 million Australians will experience PTSD during their life. Having insomnia before or immediately after trauma exposure makes it 2.5-3 times more likely someone will develop PTSD, but no one knows why. This project will, for the first time, propose and test a reason why insomnia increases the risk of PTSD. If successful, we will identify one of the few risk factors that can actually be modified in order to reduce the likelihood of developing PTSD after a trauma.
Evaluation Of A Rapid Behavioural Treatment For Sleep Onset Insomnia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$268,500.00
Summary
Chronic insomnia is a prevalent health problem that affects 5-10% of the population. It is associated with significant physical and mental health problems as well as lowered quality of life. By far the most common treatment for insomnia continues to be sleeping tablets despite the problems of drug dependence, daytime impairment and long term loss of effect. It is also despite the evidence that behavioural therapies are more effective in the long term. In clinical experiments stimulus control the ....Chronic insomnia is a prevalent health problem that affects 5-10% of the population. It is associated with significant physical and mental health problems as well as lowered quality of life. By far the most common treatment for insomnia continues to be sleeping tablets despite the problems of drug dependence, daytime impairment and long term loss of effect. It is also despite the evidence that behavioural therapies are more effective in the long term. In clinical experiments stimulus control therapy (SCT) is consistently the most effective of the behavioural therapies. However, SCT is difficult to carry out over the 4-6 week period necessary for effective treatment. If the treatment process could be shortened, it may increase the number of successful treatments. We have developed a laboratory procedure which includes the effective elements of SCT. These elements include sleep restriction and the experience of one rapid sleep onset each night. Our procedure involves some sleep deprivation and the experience of many (over 40) rapid sleep onsets over just one day. Therefore, it condenses 40 nights of the re-training benefits of SCT into just one day. A preliminary study has shown this procedure to be as effective as normal SCT. However, with no follow-up therapy to the procedure the initial gains tended to diminish with time. Our proposal is to test and extend the possible benefits of this new treatment procedure. We will compare it with the standard SCT as well as combine it with SCT. We feel that the greatest benefit may be to use the laboratory procedure as a kick start to SCT, which will by-pass the most difficult first 2--3 weeks of SCT. This will greatly reduce the time as well as absolutely improve the outcome. In further studies the laboratory procedure may be transferred to the patient s home, thereby further increasing its effectiveness. We feel the proposal will lead to a significant improvement in the non-drug treatment of insomnia.Read moreRead less
Comparing Light And Cognitive-behavior Therapies For The Treatment Of Sleep Maintenance Insomnia In Older Adults
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$383,961.00
Summary
Chronic insomnia affects more than 1 million Australians over 55 years of age. The most common treatment is sleeping pills despite their negative side effects. Our proposal is to compare non-drug cognitive-behaviour treatment with a new therapy of evening bright light, the combination of the two expected to be superior to either therapy alone. The project aims to improve the treatment of chronic insomnia in older adults leading to improved quality of life and reduced health care costs.
Establishing The Physiological And Sleep Disruption Characteristics Of Wind Farm Versus Traffic Noise Disturbances In Sleep
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,357,652.00
Summary
Good sleep is essential for normal daytime functioning and health. Wind farm noise includes audible and unusually low frequency sound components, including infrasound, that could potentially disturb sleep through chronic sleep disruption and/or insomnia. This project will, for the first time, directly evaluate the sleep and physiological disturbance characteristics of wind farm noise compared to traffic noise reproduced in a specialised and carefully controlled laboratory environment.
A Novel Intervention Targeting Insomnia To Prevent Major Depressive Disorder In The Community
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,258,316.00
Summary
In this project we want to see if we can prevent depression by improving insomnia. We will invite people with elevated depression symptoms to undertake a novel self help program to reduce insomnia, and then see if their risk for developing clinical depression is reduced 9 and 18 months later. As far as we know, this approach has not previously been tried. The merit of the project is that we have tangible symptoms (sleep problems) with which to engage individuals in a prevention strategy.
Improving The Management Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea And Insomnia In General Practice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,439,100.00
Summary
The two most common clinical sleep disorders, insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), affect >4 million Australians, costing Australia over $66 billion annually. People with sleep disorders are receiving care that is far from best practice and is potentially dangerous. This novel partnership study represents a major step towards improving management of sleep disorders in primary care (PC) using new, evidence-based, models of care for insomnia and OSA, designed specifically for PC.