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 such as depression. I currently work on sleep interventions for mental health and seek to understand the underlying mechanisms of these approaches. Previously, I have worked on preclinical models of sleep and migraine and I also have a broader interest in sleep and neurological disorders. I have also worked on behavioural sleep interventions such as closed-loop auditory stimulation and projects related to sleep, memory, and emotion. 

My postdoctoral work aims to investigate in a large clinical trial whether sleep restriction therapy for insomnia can be used to treat depression and to elucidate potential mechanisms underlying this. 

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 King's College London in 2023 where I worked on a preclinical project entitled: 'The Neural Mechanisms of Sleep and Migraine'. I am a registered Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Philip Holland - King's College London

Dr Jan Hoffmann - King's College London

Professor Louis Ptacek - University of California San Francisco 

Olivia Grech - University of Birmingham

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)