Catch some zzz’s in UCC
An upcoming lecture will bring a whole knew meaning to sleeping during a lecture.
A prominent Oxford professor will be giving a free lecture about the importance of sleep in UCC next month.
Professor Russell Foster will present Circadian Rhythms and Sleep: Biology to New Therapeutics which will focus on the importance of maintaining a sleep routine.
Prof. Foster presented a Ted Talk entitled Why We Sleep which has garnered almost eight million views on YouTube. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2015 for services to science, and has written 250 scientific papers, receiving multiple awards. He has also written four popular science books, is the head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, founder and director of the Sleep Circadian Research Institute, and is a fellow of Brasnose College Oxford.
His talk will consider the mechanisms that generate and regulate circadian rhythms and sleep, the essential physiology and behaviour regulated by these systems.
He will discuss what happens when our circadian rhythms and sleep are disrupted as a result of disease and societal pressures.
He will also deliberate on what we can do now, and perhaps in the near future, to help us cope with sleep and circadian rhythm disruption in key diseases such as blindness, neurodegenerative disease and mental illness.
The event will be hosted by Principal Investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research, Dr Cormac Gahan. Speaking about the upcoming event, Dr Gahan said: “An unbalanced diet and poor sleep quality have the potential to adversely affect our health. We are therefore delighted to welcome Prof. Foster to UCC to provide this fascinating overview of the broader implications of sleep/circadian disruption.”
Dr Gahan will host the lecture as part of the Circadian Rhythms exhibition at the Glucksman Gallery in UCC, which runs until 3 November.
Prof. Foster’s public lecture take place in the Boole 3 lecture theatre at 7pm on 3 October. Admission is free but tickets need to be reserved in advance at eventbrite.com.