Over two days following the UWA London Dinner, sleep experts from UWA and Oxford interacted at a Symposium hosted by Professor Russell Foster in Oxford’s Department of Anatomy Physiology and Genetics (DPAG).
The Symposium was opened by Professor Dame Kay Davies, Dr Lee’s Professor of Anatomy at Oxford and former UWA Visiting Professor. Friends Chairman David MacKinlay responded on behalf of the UWA visitors.
Dr Jen Walsh presenting
On the second day the Symposium was joined by Professor David Paterson, head of DPAG, a UWA alumnus and former UWA Visiting Professor.
In attendance were some 25 sleep scientists, practitioners and educators from Oxford, and five from UWA. The Symposium benefited from the presence of industry experts, Dr David Flower from BP, and Dr Ange Baker from Shell, who provided industry perspectives on the effect of fatigue in the workplace on health, safety and human performance.
Knowledge sharing covered fundamental research, applied research, clinical practice, and public education on sleep health. Areas of common interest between the sleep groups were identified and a programme of collaborative action was agreed.
Notable from the UWA point of view was the presentation made by UWA’s Forrest Scholar and PhD candidate Grace Goh outlining her work studying the impact of temperature on circadian rhythms.
At the conclusion of the Symposium Professor Eastwood expressed his gratitude to Professor Foster for having staged the Symposium. He noted the strength of the collegial spirit that had been developed, firstly at the Dinner and then, over the two days of the Symposium. He said this augured well for the proposed collaboration between the Oxford and UWA sleep groups.
Event gallery