NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme

BRC Better Sleep

I am interested in investigating the mechanistic relationships between sleep, health, and disease with a particular interest in understanding how sleep may contribute to mental health disorders. My postdoctoral work aims to investigate in an RCT whether sleep restriction therapy for insomnia can be used to treat depression and to elucidate potential mechanisms underlying this. Previously, I worked on preclinical models of sleep and migraine and I also have a broader interest in sleep and neurological disorders and  sleep, memory, and emotion. 

I graduated with an integrated masters in psychology from the University of York in 2018 after which I worked as a research technician in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Leeds in the School of Psychology. I completed my PhD in neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London in 2023 where I worked on a preclinical project entitled: 'The Neural Mechanisms of Sleep and Migraine'. I investigated a genetic mutation resulting in short sleep duration and its impact on migraine-relevant phenotypes and the role of the hypothalamic orexinergic system in migraine and other primary headaches, as well as clinical research into sleep physiology and quality in migraine patients.

I am a registered Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and graduate member of The British Psychological Society. I am a tutor in undergraduate biomedical science at St Catherine's College. I serve on the advisory board of the Early Career Researchers Circadian Mental Health Network and I am an editor for the journal Frontiers in Neurology Sleep Disorders. In my spare time I am a volunteer mentor for Refugee Education UK.

Dr Philip Holland - King's College London

Dr Jan Hoffmann - King's College London

Professor Louis Ptacek - University of California San Francisco 

Dr Olivia Grech - University of Birmingham

Johanna Ell - Universitats Klinikum Freiburg

Circadian Mental Health Network - Early Career Researcher Fund (2024) 

British Sleep Society Colin Sullivan Research Award (2023)

Biomedical Research Centre Better Sleep Fund (2023-2024) 

British Sleep Society Travel Grant (2023)

Guarantors of Brain Travel Grant (2022)

Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Programme PhD Studentship (2019-2023)