UniSA sleep expert in USA
UniSA adjunct research fellow Dr Sarah Blunden has recently returned
from seven weeks spent studying and researching with sleep experts in
the USA.
Dr Blunden, of the Centre for Sleep Research, was able to make the
journey after winning the Australasian Sleep Association’s Helen
Bearpark Memorial Scholarship.
During a productive stay, Dr Blunden completed three research papers and
spent much of her time working with Dr Ron Chervin of the Sleep
Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, University of Michigan.
“It was a great opportunity to collaborate and bring knowledge back to
Australia,” she said.
In addition to working on research papers and observing patients and
clinical practice in America, Dr Blunden was invited to present at the
Associated Professional Sleep Societies Annual Meeting in Denver last
month, attended by more than 5000 delegates.
Her talk, called Sleep and Executive Memory Function in Children,
focused on how sleep disorders, not just snoring, affect children’s
behaviour and performance, and received excellent feedback from fellow
delegates.
“We know that snoring makes a difference, but sleep itself is also a
problem. Children who do badly don’t sleep well,” she said.
Dr Blunden was also keen to borrow from programs already in place in
America, which aim to educate parents, children and adolescents about
healthy sleep patterns – and the importance of sleep in their overall
wellbeing.