Sleep researchers at the University of Surrey awarded £2.6 million in research funding
Thursday 28 August 2008
A multidisciplinary team of sleep and circadian rhythm researchers, led by Professor Derk-Jan Dijk of the University of Surrey, has recently been awarded two research grants with a total value of approximately £2.6 million. The grants, awarded by the UK BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) and the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research, were given for studies into the question of how common genetic differences affect our sleep and waking performance.
Professor Dijk comments: "It is well known that there are substantial differences between individuals in how their sleep is structured and when they perform best if they are awake. These grants will allow us to characterise these differences in much greater detail and to relate them to genetic differences and molecular markers. Eventually we hope that these findings will make it possible to develop new treatments for disorders of sleep and wakefulness."
The multidisciplinary group behind the awards includes experts in sleep, psychology, neurobiology, genetics and systems biology. This team will now be strengthened by six postdoctoral research fellows and one PhD student, all of whom will be funded by the grants.
"We believe that the international reputation of our sleep researchers and the use of such an integrated multi-disciplinary approach are the reasons why these research proposals were so attractive to the funding agencies. This illustrates the importance of supporting interdisciplinary and translational research teams in modern bioscience research," says Professor John Hay, Dean of the Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences.