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A New Clinical Tool To Assess Fitness-to-drive In Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$727,963.00
Summary
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) affects 1 in 4 middle aged adults. OSA results in impaired neurobehavioral function, excessive sleepiness, and more than 2-fold increased motor vehicle crash risk and workplace accidents. However, not all patients are impaired and identifying patients at risk is a daily clinical challenge. This project proposes new and simple measures that can accurately identify patients with OSA who are most vulnerable to alertness failure and motor vehicle accident risk.
Effects Of Circadian Disruption And Sleep Deprivation In Respiratory Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,000.00
Summary
This project aims to determine the impact of reduced sleep hours and jet lag-sleep time shift in two very common breathing disorders; sleep apnea (snoring sickness) and asthma. We will also make measurements in healthy normal people as well. Reduced sleep hours are common in many sections of society due to a number of factors, including increased work hours, overtime, shiftwork, medical conditions (sleep and other medical disorders), caring for a new baby, and other family and social demands. In ....This project aims to determine the impact of reduced sleep hours and jet lag-sleep time shift in two very common breathing disorders; sleep apnea (snoring sickness) and asthma. We will also make measurements in healthy normal people as well. Reduced sleep hours are common in many sections of society due to a number of factors, including increased work hours, overtime, shiftwork, medical conditions (sleep and other medical disorders), caring for a new baby, and other family and social demands. In addition, body clock disruption due to shiftwork, transmeridien travel, circadian based sleep disorders and other factors that shift the timing of normal sleep-wake behaviour is also very prevalent in today's society. The effects of reduced sleep hours and jet lag-sleep time shift effect a number of body systems but have only been studied to a limited extent in the breathing system. Jet lag-sleep time shift changes are result of changes to the body clock rhythms - these rhythms effect coordinate activities of essentially all bodily functions, vigilance and thinking, heart, breathing, hormones, bowel function and the immune system that fights off infection and cancer. Together, this body clock system and sleep coordinate the majority of systems of the body and brain. This project will address a number of questions including whether reduced sleep hours worsen brain function in sleep apnea or whether shifting sleep (jet lag effect) can worsen airway function and increase risk of asthma. We will use two types of study - simulated jet lag and reduced sleep hours under complete laboratory supervision to test our theoriesRead moreRead less
Randomised Controlled Trial Of A Light Intervention To Enhance Alertness And Performance In Night Shiftworkers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$708,736.00
Summary
Shiftworkers commonly experience high levels of fatigue during night shift, with decreased alertness and performance levels, placing them at high risk for accidents and injuries. Despite the large number of shiftworkers in Australia, effective fatigue management tools are lacking. Light increases alertness, and may provide an unobtrusive means to increase safety in shiftworkers. We will study the effectiveness of a novel method of light exposure to improve alertness in night shiftworkers.
Impact Of Disrupted Sleep And Rhythms During Pregnancy On The Mother And Her Offspring
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$796,979.00
Summary
Sleep disruption and circadian rhythm disturbances are emerging as a significant public health issue for all shift workers. The objective of this study is to further define and understand the effects of disrupted sleep rhythms specifically during pregnancy on the mother’s metabolism and the long term impact on the metabolic health of her offspring. The long term aim is to use the research outcomes to develop strategies for prevention of the harm to mother and child.
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
The Relationship Between Fatigue, Sleepiness And Crash Risk While Driving
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$444,070.00
Summary
Driver fatigue is a major road safety problem that is currently managed by encouraging drivers to take breaks when they feel tired. Unfortunately we dont know whether drivers really are able to detect when they are too tired to drive safely or, if they can make this judgement, whether and what motivates them to stop driving. This research will look at driver awareness of fatigue effects and what indicators and motivators can be used to encourage them to respond to signs of impaired driving.
Acute Alerting Effects Of Daytime Exposure To Specific Wavelengths Of Light
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$446,367.00
Summary
Excessive sleepiness is the greatest identifiable and preventable cause of accidents in all modes of transportation. Shift workers working outside the 8am-5pm day, make up about 20% of the urban working population. These individuals often report excessive daytime sleepiness caused by irregular sleep-wake patterns and long-term sleep loss. Excessive sleepiness is also common in individuals with sleep disorders. While there are many stimulant and wake-promoting drugs available to counteract daytim ....Excessive sleepiness is the greatest identifiable and preventable cause of accidents in all modes of transportation. Shift workers working outside the 8am-5pm day, make up about 20% of the urban working population. These individuals often report excessive daytime sleepiness caused by irregular sleep-wake patterns and long-term sleep loss. Excessive sleepiness is also common in individuals with sleep disorders. While there are many stimulant and wake-promoting drugs available to counteract daytime fatigue such drugs have problems of side effects, interactions and in some cases dependence. Light has many beneficial effects for a wide range of medicinal, physiological, psychological, and social purposes. One well known effect is as a stimulant so that exposure to bright light, both during the night and in the middle of the day, improves alertness and attention, and decreases reaction times thus improving performance. These effects can also be measured as changes in brain activity. However we do not understand the mechanisms in the eyes which control these effects. While certain cells in the eyes called rods and cones are necessary for seeing objects clearly and for detecting colour, there appears to be another system in the eyes which may involve different specialized cells or photoreceptors that are important for the alerting effects of light. White light is made up of different wavelengths or colours of light. This study will examine which wavelength (blue, violet, red or green) of light best improves alertness and learning during the daytime. Various performance tests will be used in addition to measures of brain wave activity. By identifying the most effective wavelength of light for improving alertness in healthy young adults and better understanding the mechanisms in the eyes involved, we will be able to develop light treatment strategies in patient groups with sleep disorders and in individuals like shift workers who experience sleep loss.Read moreRead less
How Does Disruption Of Circadian Rhythms Induce Diabetes?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$631,782.00
Summary
Increasing evidence suggests that disturbed circadian rhythms initiate and amplify metabolic and cardiovascular disease. The increasing and already high proportion of workers engaged in shiftwork, and increased frequency of disruption of these rhythms in the population more generally, implicate this body system as contributing to the growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes and related disorders in our community and world-wide. While we are now beginning to understand how our rhythms are synchro ....Increasing evidence suggests that disturbed circadian rhythms initiate and amplify metabolic and cardiovascular disease. The increasing and already high proportion of workers engaged in shiftwork, and increased frequency of disruption of these rhythms in the population more generally, implicate this body system as contributing to the growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes and related disorders in our community and world-wide. While we are now beginning to understand how our rhythms are synchronised to night and day, how this rhythmicity is linked to our organs in the normal and common disease states such as diabetes is poorly understood. The discovery of a special set of genes, called clock genes that function in all of the cells in our bodies and strongly influence the function of our organs such as the liver, pancreas and heart has been particularly important. We hypothesise that both environmentally (exogenous) and genetically (endogenous) induced disruption of circadian rhythms causes metabolic dysfunction. This is due to altered central and peripheral clock gene expression rhythms, which in turn alter metabolic rhythms and impair glucose homeostasis. This project aims to determine the impact of disrupted rhythmicity on metabolism with a particular emphasis on the possibility that the disrupted rhythmicity may be a predisposing factor for the development of diabetes.Read moreRead less