114/30 Campbell Street, Blacktown NSW 2148 Tel: +61 (0)2 9920 1968 Fax: +61 (0)2 9672 3884admin@sleep.org.au www.sleep.org.au ABN 51 138 032 014

asanewsAustralasian Sleep Association December 2017

Peter Eastwood

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It gives me great pleasure toprovide my first contribution tothe ASA newsletter as theAssociation’s new President.

I would firstly like to acknowledge theenormous amount of work put in byMaree Barnes, as President over thepast 2 years. Maree will be staying onthe Board as Immediate Past Presidentand will be an invaluable help to meand the other Board members inprogressing the many initiatives shehas put in place, and supporting thenew activities planned for the comingyears. I would also like toacknowledge Alan Young, who leftthe Board at the last AGM, and whohas made a huge contribution to themany and broad-ranging activities ofthe Education Committee.

I am based in Perth and share my timebetween the Centre for Sleep Science,University of Western Australia andthe West Australian Sleep DisordersResearch Institute, Sir CharlesGairdner Hospital. I holdappointments as a NHMRC ResearchFellow at the hospital and as ateaching and research academic atthe university. I oversee a research andteaching programme that is focusedon the diagnosis, treatment,pathogenesis and epidemiology ofsleep disorders. I look forward toapplying my experience in working ina collaborative, multi-disciplinaryenvironment with both clinical andscientific colleagues to the ASA,which as an Association representingindividuals with broad interests insleep science and sleep health that

President’s Update

includes clinicians, scientists andresearchers.

As President of the ASA, I will makeevery effort to ensure that theAssociation spends its efforts andresources on achieving its statedmission “…to lead and promote sleephealth and sleep science in Australiaand New Zealand and to facilitate theprofessional development of itsmembers by providing education andtraining, fostering research andestablishing clinical standards withinthe field.” Interest in sleep by thegeneral public has never been greaterand the ASA has a critical role inensuring that the community areprovided the best evidence-basedinformation on good sleep health andsleep disorders. A strong workingpartnership with the SHF and recentlyestablished SHF NZ, are essential toensure such an educated community,whether it the general public, industryor government. In Australia, the ASAand SHF are already working closelyon advocacy activities with the FederalGovernment. Our joint ambitions arehigh, and include seekingGovernment support for aparliamentary enquiry on sleep health;a national education campaign for thecommunity, increased NHMRCfunding for research into improvingsleep health; educational programs forprimary care and allied healthprofessionals on sleep disorders; andsleep awareness education packagesfor school-aged children. The recentMBS item number review highlightedthe absence of national data relatedto pathways that patients take fromdiagnosis to treatment of sleepdisorders and the outcomes. The ASA

has been informally approached tosee whether it would consider helpingdevelop a simple-to-use ‘universalrequest form’ for use by all SleepPhysicians. The data generated fromsuch a form would be invaluable inhighlighting to government themagnitude of the health issues relatedto poor sleep and sleep disorders, andthe marked individual, economic andsocial benefits associated with theireffective treatment. These issues arecurrently under consideration by theClinical Committee.

The ASA will continue to findinnovative ways to facilitate theprofessional development of itsmembers. The flagship educationprogram is the Annual ScientificMeeting. The recent conference inAuckland was a huge success, andagain I would like to thank SarahBiggs for developing a scientificprogram with outstanding high-quality content. The ConferenceCommittee always welcomes inputfrom all members with regard toprogram content, and I encourage allof you to send in your ideas andthoughts. We now start countingdown the days until the next meeting,which will be held in Brisbane fromthe 18th to 20th of October, 2018.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone asafe and happy festive season. It willhave been a long year for many ofyou, so please use the opportunity towind-down a bit, catch up with familyand friends, rest, recover and sleepwell.

Peter EastwoodPresident

InsidePresident’s Update 1Clinical Committee 3Conference Committee 4Education Committee 6Finance Committee 7Membership Committee 8Research Committee 8New Zealand Branch 10Executive Officer 11Council News 11

Neuroscience

Dental Sleep Medicine

Occupational Health, Safety and Performance

Chronobiology

Insomnia and Sleep Health

Primary Care Council

Paediatric

Respiratory

Surgery

Sleep Physicians

Sleep Health Foundation 17Dates for the Diary 18

ASA VisionA community that recognises theimportance of good sleep tohealth, public safety, productivityand quality of life.

ASA MissionTo lead and promote sleep healthand sleep science across Australiaand New Zealand and to advancethe professional interests of itsmembers.

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December 2017

ASA Guidelines and Positionstatements

Following the successful publicationof four position statements in SleepMedicine earlier this year, we arecurrently working on multiple clinicalguidelines and position statements.These include: 1) Clinical Guidelineson CPAP treatment for obstructivesleep apnoea. These will becomprehensive in nature and follow arigorous GRADE format to ensure allrecommendations are evidence based.2) Long term ventilation in childrenwith respiratory failure. This is beingdone in conjunction with the TSANZ.3) Oximetry for paediatric sleepdisordered breathing; and 4) Upperairway surgery for obstructive sleepapnoea. Discussions are also beingheld regarding a potential guidelineon long term domiciliary ventilation inadults with chronic respiratory failure.Garun Hamilton is also part of theinaugural clinical guidelinescommittee of the World Sleep Society.

Sleep apnoea database

We are working on the possibility ofcreating a national database ofpatients with sleep disorderedbreathing to better track patientoutcomes. The initial step indetermining if this is possible is tohave discussions on what would bethe appropriate universal dataset tocollect at the time of referral and howthis could be done and accessed. Wehave a sub-committee currentlyexploring the feasibility.

Sodium Oxybate (Xyrem™)

A select group of patients have beenable to access sodium oxybate fornarcolepsy, many with very positivebenefits. The major obstacle forpatients accessing the medication

remains its high cost and theregulatory framework, noting that it iscurrently an unregistered medicationwith the TGA. We are currentlyupdating the position statement onthe use of sodium oxybate fornarcolepsy with data/expert opinionon the Australian prevalence ofnarcolepsy. This will assist thecompany UCB in an attempt to haveXyrem™ registered with the TGAunder the orphan disease category.Registration is the first crucial steptowards any future attempts atgetting any government fundingsupport for sodium oxybate.

AASM Scoring Manual

The AASM now publishes an annualupdate to the AASM scoring manual.To assist Australasian sleep services, theASA and ASTA will put out an updatedannual commentary on the AASMdocument, with recommendations forwhat we should be doing in our localcontext. There is a sub-committeeworking with ASTA and the firstedition is likely to be out on the ASAwebsite in the next few months.

MBS issues

The MBS review was completed lastyear and the MBS taskforce acceptedthe Thoracic Medicine ClinicalCommittee amended report followingthe public consultation period. At thetime of writing it has still not receivedsign off and acceptance by the healthminister. We have been advised byDepartment of health that becauseany new item numbers havebudgetary implications, sign off andimplementation need to followbudgetary cycles. Therefore, thereport may be approved thisNovember mini-budget, but if not,then it would not be until the May2018 budget. Any implementation

would be expected approximately sixmonths after ministerial approval. Inaddition, the ASA has been invited byMSAC to apply for specific itemnumbers for vigilance testing(MSLT/MWT) as the Department ofHealth wants specific item numbersfor each type of sleep test (as per theMBS review recommendations). TheClinical Committee has established asub-committee to work on an MSACapplication for a new item number forvigilance testing, to coincide withadoption of any new item numbersfrom the MBS review process.

Accreditation

This continues to go well withincreasing numbers of private andpublic sleep services being accredited.Thanks to John Wheatley and theAccreditation Advisory Committee.

Sleep Health Foundation (SHF)CPAP Code of Practice

The SHF is proposing to hand theprocess over to NATA to manage andimplement. Prior to doing so, a sub-committee formed with the SHFwill assist them in updating the Code.The ASA representatives are BrendonYee and Linda Schachter.

Garun HamiltonClinical Chair

Garun Hamilton

Clinical Committee

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SDU2017A huge thank you goes out toall who were involved in theorganisation and running ofSDU2017.

The meeting was slightly smaller thisyear with 483 sleep professionals andstudents in attendance, yet this didnot detract from the quality of thescience. All sessions were outstanding.Preliminary feedback is showingSDU2017 as an overwhelmingsuccess.

SDU2018Organisation for SDU2018 in Brisbane has already begun.I am pleased to announce we have two confirmedinternational guest speakers,with more announcements to be made soon.

Professor David White –Department of Medicine, Brighamand Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA.

Professor Hans Van Dongen –Director, Sleep and PerformanceResearch Center, Washington StateUniversity, Spokane, USA

We received feedback regarding theopening and closing dates forsymposia and short courses. It wasfelt that the submission date was tooclose to the end of the meeting anddid not allow people enough time todevelop high quality submissions. Thishas been a concern for the committeefor some time and I am pleased toannounce that after discussions with

The Conference Company, we havebeen able to move the submissiondate. Hopefully this will assist in yourplanning.

The key dates for SDU2018 are:

• Symposia, Short Course andAbstract submission opens:1 March 2018

• Symposia and Short Coursesubmission closes: 13 April 2018

• Registration opens: 1 May 2018

• Abstract submission closes: 21 May 2018

• Earlybird registration closes: 31 July 2018

• Sleep DownUnder 2018: 17 - 20 October 2018

Be sure to stay up to date on all thatis happening with the conference viaour website - sleepdownunder.com.

It has all the details you need, plusregular updates regarding thescientific programme and key dates.

I’d like to take this opportunity towish everyone a safe and happyholiday season.

See you in Brisbane.

Sarah BiggsConference Chair

2018 Conference Committeemembers

Stephanie Blower, Charli Sargent, Julia Crawford, Jasneek Chawla, David Cunnington, Rebecca Calwell,Shyamala Pradeepan, Margaret Hardy,Andrew Vakulin, Rob Shea, Curtis Gray, Gemma Paech, Yu Sun Bin, Angela Anniss

Conference Committee

Sarah Biggs

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December 2017

I am delighted to have beenappointed the new EducationCommittee Chair and lookforward to working with thecommittee towards optimisingeducational opportunities andongoing provision ofeducational resources for theASA membership.

We congratulate Professor DougMcEvoy from Flinders University andhis collaborators on the recent awardof a NHMRC Centres of ResearchExcellence (CRE) National Centre forSleep Health Services Research whowill conduct a variety of projectsaimed at “Positioning Primary Care atthe Centre of Sleep HealthManagement”. The ASA will partnerwith the newly formed CRE, whichwill bring together a network ofinternationally-renown researchers inprimary care, sleep medicine,psychology, nursing, pharmacy, healthservices and health policy,epidemiology, health economics andsleep health technologies with theaim of improving the management ofpatients with sleep disorders throughincreased engagement and educationof health professionals in primarycare. The CRE was recently launchedin Adelaide with a Symposium onSleep Health Services Research andThink Tank session on the 1st and 2ndNovember, which were attended byrepresentatives from the ASA Boardand ASA Education Committee.

The newly formed ASA PharmacyEducation Subcommittee will behaving their inaugural meeting in lateNovember. The Pharmacy EducationSubcommittee will oversee sleep

medicine-related educational activitiesfor pharmacists, including a coursethat will be run in collaboration withthe Pharmaceutical Society ofAustralia.

The annual Advanced Trainee ShortCourse in Sleep Medicine will takeplace in Melbourne on 24th February2018. Topics covered in the 2018course will include oximetrymeasurements and interpretation,actigraphy monitoring and movementdisorders during sleep. We encourageall trainees in adult and paediatricsleep medicine, as well as otherinterested health professionals andscientists, to attend. Registrations forthe Advanced Trainee Short Coursewill be open soon, check website fordetails.

Five RACP webinars were held thisyear featuring high-profile sleepmedicine experts (Doug McEvoy,Shantha Rajaratnam, MatthewNaughton, Delwyn Bartlett, DavidCunnington). All of these webinarsare available in the members only areaof the ASA website:www.sleep.org.au/membersarea/racp-webinars

The annual Dental Sleep MedicineCourse was successfully run as astandalone event in Sydney inSeptember, receiving excellentfeedback.

HealthEd presentations for GPs onShift Work Sleep Disorder have beenheld in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaideand Perth, and RACGP onlineactivities will continue to roll over intothe next triennium. The NursingSubcommittee are currentlydeveloping a survey for nursesworking in the sleep medicine field.

The Behavioural Management of SleepDisorders (BMSD) Subcommittee haverecently appointed Amy Reynolds astheir new Chair, and will focus on re-establishing Insomnia Workshops,in conjunction with the AustralianPsychological Society (APS). KurtLushington will continue on as Chairof the combined ASA/APS WorkingGroup. I would like to acknowledgeKurt’s enormous contribution to theASA Chairing the BMSD over the lastfew years and establishing manysuccessful initiatives including theonline Graduate Certificate inBehavioural Management of SleepDisorders with the APS.

We thank outgoing EducationCommittee Chair, Alan Young, for hishard work and immense contributionsduring his time in this role. He willcontinue to have a strong presence onthe committee in his continuing roleas Chair of the GP EducationSubcommittee. The EducationCommittee remains stronglycommitted to ensuring that ouractivities meet the needs of the ASAmembership, and we welcome anyfeedback and/or suggestions.

Ching Li Chai-CoetzerEducation Committee Chair

Education Committee

Ching Li Chai-Coetzer

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December 2017

The Association remains in astrong financial position,which has helped theorganisation to continue todevelop member servicesincluding online educationalresources, webinars, researchscholarships, scientific andeducational meetings andpractice guidelines.

As part of a medium to long-terminvestment strategy the ASA has beenaiming to preserve and build the assetbase for the organisation to providefor the Helen Bearpark MemorialScholarship as well as developing newscholarships to foster and support theASA membership.

To that end, the ASA has developedthe Nick Antic Career DevelopmentAward in memory of Nick Antic, ourformer president, who sadly passedaway in December 2016. This awardis intended to assist an ASA memberwith their professional development.

We would like to congratulate theinaugural award winner for 2017,Denise O’Driscoll. To date, over$30,000 has been donated to helpestablish award, and it remains thegoal of the Assocation to continuebuilding our financial resources tohelp this award become self-sustaining over time.

As a not for profit association, the

ASA is now recognised as a HealthPromotion Charity for taxationpurposes by the ATO. This means thatany donations that members make tothe ASA to support awards such asthe Nick Antic Career DevelopmentAward, will be tax deductible for thedonor. To make a donation visit thedonations page:www.sleep.org.au/donations/donations

To make online membership renewaland course registration easier, theASA has also implemented AMEXpayments via the website which isattractive to some members who useAMEX cards for business expenses.

Given historically low interest rates, anew investment strategy wasembarked upon at the beginning ofthe 2016-2017 financial year with$800,000 invested in a diversifiedethical portfolio with JBWeir, whichhas had an excellent return of 6.17%since commencement, with interestreceived from investments reinvestedin the portfolio.

At 31 October 2017, the market valueof the portfolio was $904,203 with amix of equities diversified across themajor market sectors, alternativeinvestments, fixed interest holdingsand cash. The ASA has committed toincreasing its investment in thisportfolio quarterly as cash flow allowswith a proportion of any profits to bepaid into this fund.

The ASM in Auckland 2017 alsomarks the first year that we have useda Professional Conference OrganisingCompany (PCO) to run the ASM.

This has had an impact on cash flow,but careful planning in the preceding12 months has meant that thistransition has been successful withouta significant adverse impact on cashflow.

Advocacy to government remains oneof the important functions of the ASAand in 2017 the ASA supported theSleep Health Foundation incommissioning the report by DeloitteAccess Economics 2017 – “Asleep onthe Job: Counting the cost of poorsleep”. This was successfully launchedin Canberra in August with severalASA and SHF Board members inattendance.

Marcus McMahonFinance Chair

Finance Committee

Marcus McMahon

Awards Announced at the ASA meeting

Congratulations to the recipients ofthe ASA awards announced at therecent Auckland SleepDownUndermeeting. These include:

Young Investigator Award:Charlotte Gupta for her presentationtitled: The impact of a meal, snack, ornot eating during the nightshift ondriving performance

Helen Bearpark MemorialScholarship: Angela D’Rozario whowill spend time in Professor Ruth

Benca’s Sleep Research Center at theDepartment of Psychiatry & HumanBehaviour University of California,Irvine (UC Irvine) to further developanalytical high-density EEG expertiseto facilitate studies into the effects ofpoor sleep and cognitive decline in at-risk dementia

Rob Pierce Award supported byPhilips/Respironics: Amy Reynoldsfor her project titled: Gastrointestinalmicrobiota as a health biomarker innew shiftworkers: A pilotinvestigation in South Australianemergency service workers

Research Committee

Danny Eckert

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The Membership Committeecontinues to work to improvethe value of your membership.

We have recently formalised thecommittee structure, and theMembership Committee (previouslyMembership Services Sub-Committee)with one sub-committee, ASACouncils Sub-Committee. Themembership committee providesassistance with Facebook andmember communication, and theASA Councils Sub-Committeecomprises of representatives fromeach council.

Each of the councils contributesthroughout the year to the activitiesof the ASA, including input toconference and education activities.

So you can keep track of theseactivities, a calendar of events hasbeen established on the ASA website.

The ASA has two new Councils, theNeuroscience Council, composed ofan enthusiastic group of psychiatrists,neurologists and neuroscientists, andthe Primary Care Council, composedof general practitioners, nurses,pharmacists and others involved inprimary care of patients. I am greatlylooking forward to the contribution ofboth councils to the activities of theASA, which I have no doubt willenhance the ASA greatly.

We have a new ASA Members OnlyFacebook moderator since JasonAmatoury left for Lebanon and Ithank him for all his work to ensurethe success of the Forum. Thanks to

Joanne Avraan and Phillip Terrill for

their dedication and contributions in

taking on this role.

Finally, I encourage all ASA members

to become involved with their

councils, interact on our Facebook

page, and visit the ASA website.

Kristina KairaitisMembership Chair

MembershipCommittee

Kristina Kairaitis

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ASA/Chinese Sleep ResearchSociety Career DevelopmentAward supported by ResMed:ASA: Yu Sun Bin for her abstracttitled: Impact of Maternal SleepApnoea on Childhood Health andDevelopment and CSRS: Rong Ren forher abstract titled: Objective but notsubjective short sleep durationassociated with increased risk forhypertension in individuals withobstructive sleep apnoea

ASA International Travel Awardssupported by Queensland SleepPartners: Rodrigo Martins for hisabstract titled: Effects of Morphine onthe Phenotypic Causes of ObstructiveSleep Apnoea recently presented as aNew Investigator awardee atWorldSleep in Prague and StephanieYiallourou for her abstract titled:Sleep in Indigenous populations andCardiometabolic Risk to be presentedat the 2018 SLEEP meeting to be heldin Baltimore in June.

Nick Antic Career DevelopmentAward: The inaugural recipient ofthis new award that recognisesoutstanding contributions to the ASA,service to the field and futureleadership potential was DeniseO'Driscoll presented by Nick’s partnerCorrinne Antic.

Distinguished AchievementAward: Nick Antic (In memorandum)

A big thank you to the supporters ofthese awards, all those who applied,and to the ASA Research Committeemembers and external reviewers forassistance in ranking the applications.

New Awards

“The ASA publication award” waslaunched on Thinkable(www.thinkable.org) earlier thisyear, a new generation of onlineresearch engagement platform builtby scientists that uses technology toallow research organisations tomanage and drive wider engagementfor their annual research awards/

grants/prizes. The first winner whoreceived a $500 prize was Bei Bei forher paper titled: Too long, too short,or too variable? Adolescents' dailysleep variability and mood. The nextround of winners (for paperspublished between Jan 1-June 312017) will be announced shortly. We are also working on establishingadditional new awards for 2018. Since the ASA now has tax deductiblestatus, we encourage members todonate to the awards: www.sleep.org.au/ donations/donations

NHMRC Funding Outcomesand Peer Review ConsultationPaper

Congratulations to the followingindividuals and teams who collectivelywere awarded almost $6m for theirsleep-related applications for variousNHMRC funding mechanisms:

Centre of Research Excellence -Health Services “National Centre forSleep Health Services Research -Positioning Primary Care at the Centreof Sleep Health Management” Prof R.Douglas McEvoy, Flinders UniversitySA $2,497,977

Research Fellowship “Sleepdisorders and human health -prevalence, pathogenesis, diagnosisand treatment” Prof Peter Eastwood,University of Western Australia,$640,210

Practitioner Fellowships“Optimising evidence-based,equitable and efficient care forcommon child health conditions” ProfHarriet Hiscock, Murdoch Children’sResearch Institute, $481,155

Targeted Calls for People “Novelassessment and intervention fordementia: an inter-disciplinarytranslational approach” Prof SharonNaismith, University of Sydney$720,021

Targeted Calls for People“Improving sleep to reduce dementiarisk” Dr Craig Phillips, University of

Sydney $709,585

Early Career Fellowships(Australia) “The role of sleepdisturbances in the development oftrauma-related mental healthdisorders in paramedics” DrAlexander Wolkow, MonashUniversity, $318,768

Early Career Fellowships(Australia) Improving outcomes inobstructive sleep apnoea throughindividualised treatment ofphysiological abnormalities, Dr SimonJoosten, Monash University, $340,891

Early Career Fellowships(Australia) “Sleep and motherhood:towards a sustainable cognitivebehavioural program for better sleepand wellbeing during pregnancy andpostpartum periods” Dr Bei Bei,Monash University, $286,891

The outcomes for NHMRC projectgrants remain under embargo.Despite the challenging times for theresearch community with fundingsuccess rates for NHMRC ProjectGrants at an all-time low, we remainhopeful that several important sleepgrants were funded in this round.

Of note, the NHMRC has put out aPeer Review Consultation Paperaround the forthcoming changes tothe structure of NHMRC funding:https://consultations.nhmrc.gov.au/public_consultations/nhmrc-grant-program-review

The ASA will be submitting aresponse but all members areencouraged to send their feedback bythe deadline: 4 December 2017.

Mentor Program

The successful ASA Mentorshipprogram is now in its fourth year. Wehad a record number of applicationsthis round and Jen Walsh has workedhard to facilitate pairing betweenmentees and mentors.

Danny EckertResearch Chair

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The New Zealand branch hascontinued to be activethroughout 2017 in raisingawareness and supportactivities related to sleep andsleep health in New Zealand.

Our strategic priorities remain toensure a vibrant, wide ranging andrelevant Annual Scientific Meeting(Sleep in Aotearoa), to work hand inglove with the recently launched NewZealand Sleep Health Foundation. Ourcommitment to promote education,research and training across the fieldsof sleep health, sleep physiology andsleep medicine remains core aims.

The seventh New Zealand ASM heldin Wellington in May was wellattended and very successful. We arevery grateful to Garun Hamilton forhis insightful contributions. Thepresentations covered paediatrics,strategies for developing standards ofcare for OSA care and other sleepdisorders.

We offer our thanks to the organisingcommittee and needless to say haveco-opted many onto the newlyformed organising committee for theeighth meeting of Sleep in Aotearoa.The meeting will again be at theUniversity of Otago in Wellington on

the 11-12th of May, 2018 and thecommittee are already working on thethemes for that meeting. Thecommittee consist of Karyn O’Keefe,Sally Powell, Andrew Davies, JacobTwiss and Ken Whyte.

As many of you will be aware SleepHealth Foundation New Zealand wasofficially launched in October at SleepDownUnder 2017 and we thank allour Australian colleagues forattending the event. We hope thatSHF NZ, which shares many goalswith SHF in Australia can be equallysuccessful and we thank Alister Neillfor all his hard work in getting us tothis point. Two members of ASA NZbranch will serve on the Board of SHFNZ thus ensuring close and effectivecooperation in advocating forrecognition of sleep health in oursociety.

We continue to monitor and attemptto engage with Pharmac – ourgovernment agency that fundspharmaceuticals and is now takingover the funding and provision ofmedical devices, including CPAP, NIVand we presume cough-assist devices.We are also encouraging Pharmac toreview their refusal to fund modafanilas first line therapy for Narcolepsy andwidening access to include Idiopathic

Hypersomnolence.

Finally we wish to congratulateProfessor Philippa Gander on heraward of Officer of the NZ Order ofMerit in recognition of her worldrenowned leading research and heradvocacy in the area of fatigue and itsmanagement. In the last newsletter inMarch it was mentioned that thiswork was gaining traction withgovernment and Health Boards.

The recent changes reducing juniordoctors working hours in NewZealand are partly the result of workcarried out by Philipa and her teamproving that such research is bothimportant and can produce “real-life”changes – fewer tired doctors!

Kenneth WhyteNew Zealand Branch President

New Zealand Branch

Kenneth Whyte

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As we come to the end ofanother very busy year I’d liketo take this opportunity tothank the Board and all theMembers for making my roleso interesting and enjoyable.

With amazing support from the staff,Mischka Yates (Admin Officer), HelenBurdette (Senior Admin Officer) andChrissy Dominguez (bookkeeper) wehave managed to get through whatseemed an insurmountable level ofwork, and are still able to smile at theend of the day.

We look forward to working with ournew President, Peter Eastwood, andall the Board and their committeemembers in 2018.

The ASA Office will be closed from 21December to 8 January so everyonecan take a well deserved break andcome back refreshed for whatpromises to be another very busy year.

I take this opportunity to wish you aVery Happy Christmas and awonderful 2018.

All the best.

Stephanie BlowerExecutive Officer

Executive Officer

Stephanie Blower

Do you have something of interest you would liketo include in the nextnewsletter? Pleaseforward any items to your council newslettercontributor:• Insomnia and Sleep Health

Council – Alix Mellor

• Respiratory Council– David Stevens

• Occupational Health, Safety & Performance Council– Alex Wolkow

• Chronobiology Council– Gorica Micic

• Paediatric Council– Nicole Verginis

• Sleep Physicians Council– Simon Frenkel

• Surgery Council– Lyndon Chan

• Dental Sleep Medicine Council– Harry Ball

• Neuroscience Council– Matthew Macfarlane

• Primary Care Council– Luke Katahanas

Neuroscience CouncilThe recently-expanded and renamedNeuroscience Council had a numberof highlights at the recent SleepDown Under conference in Auckland.The Council’s meeting was notable forbringing together a number of peoplefrom neuroscience research, as well aspracticing neurologists and

psychiatrists, to continue the work ofincreasing the visibility and utility ofthe neuroscience-related work goingon in the Association. Theneuroscience symposium and year inreview were very well-attended, withmany commenting on the need for usto have bigger rooms next year!

It was a pleasure to meet peoplefrom many different parts ofAustralasia who share our passion forthe neuroscience of sleep. Rememberthat it’s not too late to be a part ofthe Council – please keep an eye onthe ASA website and newsletters formore information about anyupcoming events or communications.

Matthew MacfarlaneNeuroscience co-chair

Dental SleepMedicine CouncilThe dental sleep medicine (DSM)council has successfully conducted thesecond stand-alone dental sleep

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medicine course in Sydney inSeptember with Associate ProfessorFernanda Almeida as the internationalkeynote speaker. The course was wellreceived and based on the feedbacksurvey 100% of respondents foundthe course useful.

Interestingly, the majority ofrespondents heard about the coursefrom the ASA website and the othermajor proportion from the AustralianDental Association (ADA) magazine.Only around half of the respondentswere members of the ASA, and theDSM council hopes that with ongoingcollaborative work with the ADA, wewill be able to enrol more dentistswith an interest in sleep medicine,into ASA. Other bodies like ThoracicSociety of Australia and New Zealand(TSANZ) etc. offers dual membershipsto TSANZ and European RespiratorySociety at a reduced cost and councilwould welcome members thoughtsabout offering similar dualmemberships( to ASA and ADA) todentists with a special interest in sleepmedicine.

The first joint ASA/ADA webinar heldin July with Fernanda Almeida as thespeaker, was very well received with383 on-line attendees and a highretention rate of 98% during thepresentation. The plan is to continuethis joint webinar series annually orbi-annually.

The DSM council has raised concernsabout ‘over the counter oralappliances’ being marketed asmedical devices without any clinicianinput on diagnosis, prescription,referral or follow-up. A significantproportion of patients are likely todevelop side-effects. There is a longlag time between usage and whenpeople start noticing dentalabnormalities and hence this is ofgreat concern. This matter is beingdiscussed with the ADA and there areplans to issue a joint press releaseaddressing the areas of concern.

The DSM council is also working in

association with the ADA ondeveloping practice parameters fororal appliance usage in dentalpractice, as well as developingappropriate accreditation in dentalsleep medicine for dentalpractitioners..

All the above has resulted indevelopment of a more closeassociation between ASA and ADA,which we hope will continue to grow.

Next years’ DSM course will beconducted in association with theannual ASA meeting in Brisbane, andwe are currently liaising with a highprofile clinician and researcher as theinternational keynote speaker.

Since over 90% of respondents of theDSM course in 2017 expressed a wishto participate in an advanced day, thisis now in the pipeline. An advancedday will be an exciting venture andwe hope to attract even more dentalcolleagues into the sleep medicineworld.

On a final note we would like tocongratulate Dr Andrew Gikas and Dr Robert Shea for receiving thePresidents award at the recent annualASA Conference in New Zealand fortheir significant contribution to thefield of dental sleep medicine.

Vinod Aiyappan, Harry Ball, RobSheaDental Sleep Medicine Co-Chairs

Occupational Health,Safety andPerformance CouncilThe ASA annual scientific meeting inNew Zealand, October 2017, was wellrepresented with occupational health,safety and performance showcasedthroughout the course of theconference. Melinda Jackson chairedan excellent session on the healthimpacts of irregular work hours whichsaw Jill Dorrian (UniSA) discussstrategies for helping a shift worker

stay healthy across their career. LeilahGrant (Monash) presented thepotential future for metabolomicmarkers for detecting alertness statewhile Amy Reynolds (CQUniversity)presented findings on changes togastrointestinal microbiota followingsleep restriction.

Clare Anderson chaired a breakfastsession discussing the advances indrowsy driving with Jennifer Cori(IBAS) speaking about the utility ofocular measures to detect driver’sdrowsiness and Andrew Vakulin(FlindersUni) exploring the potential ofbiomarkers of alertness failure anddriving impairment in OSA.

The significant number of both oraland poster presentations covered abroad range of occupational, healthsafety and performance-related topicsand the quality of research continuedto be outstanding at the meeting thisyear.

In an excellent oral presentationsession on “sleep and performance”,Madeline Sprajcer (CQUniversity)demonstrated detrimental effects ofon call work on sleep architecture,with Sarah Jay (CQUniversity)providing evidence on subjectiveperspectives of sleep quality in on-callworkers. Jessica Manousakis (Monash)spoke of the importance of pupillaryresponse as a physiological marker indetecting alertness and performanceimpairments and William McMahon(Monash) revealed preservation ofhigher order cognition in the wakemaintenance zone under constantwakefulness.

The scope of work displayed at theposter discussion “sleep, work andplay” session had Grace Vincent(CQUniversity) highlighting that sleeprestriction may attenuate the positivebenefits of interrupting sitting time onglucose metabolism. Sarah Hall(CQUniversity) touched on sleepquantity and quality in emergencyservices workers and showedanticipatory effect of on-call work.

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December 2017

Lauren Booker (IBAS) presented workdemonstrating a third of nurses wereat high risk for Shiftwork Disorderwith these individual’s more likely atrisk of depression and anxiety. ParisaVidafar (Monash) confirmed a role formenstrual phase in vulnerability toacute sleep deprivation and alertnessimpairment.

Congratulations to Charlotte Gupta,who received the New Investigatoraward for 2017. Charlotte presentedfindings from her PhD researchinvestigating the impact of a meal,snack or not eating during thenightshift on driving performance.Charlotte demonstrated that eating asmall snack or not eating at allresulted in improved drivingperformance compared to eating alarge meal on the nightshift.

We’re excited to announce the OHSPcouncil has arranged Prof. Hans VanDongen as a keynote speaker forSleep DownUnder 2018. Prof. HansVan Dongen is the Director of theSleep and Performance ResearchCenter at Washington State Universityand is internationally known for hisresearch on sleep, sleep deprivation,and cognitive performance. Hisresearch includes a wide range oflaboratory, field, and simulatorstudies, and significant contributionsto mathematical modelling of fatigue.His experience working in appliedsettings will be of direct relevance tothose with an interest in occupational,health, safety and performance. Welook forward to welcoming Prof VanDongen to Australia in 2018.

Leigh Signal, Michelle Magee and Alex WolkowOccupational Health, Safety and Performance Council

ChronobiologyCouncilAt the start of October,Chronobiologists Jeffrey C. Hall,Michael Rosbash and Michael W.

Young were awarded the Nobel Prizein Physiology or Medicine 2017 fortheir discoveries of molecularmechanisms controlling the circadianrhythm. This success was echoedacross the chronobiology communitythis year and set the tone for a prolific29th Annual Scientific Meeting of theAustralasian Sleep Association inAuckland.

Researchers and clinicians in thisyear’s meeting had a greatopportunity to network and learnfrom each other and the abundanceof outstanding presentations deliveredduring the event. Chronobiology didnot disappoint. Of the six exceptionalYoung Investigator Award (YIA)presentations, two were in the field ofshift work and chronobiology.Anastasi Kosmadopoulos from theAppleton Institute for BehaviouralScience, Central QueenslandUniversity, spoke about the effects ofa split sleep–wake schedule onneurobehavioural performance andpredictions of performance underconditions of forced desynchrony. Hisstudy considered the efficacy of shortsleep-wake cycles (4.67 h TIB) vs.standard sleep (9.33 h TIB) periods atsustaining performance around theclock, by assessing subjectiveperformance ability and performanceon the Psychomotor Vigilance Task(PVT). The results of his work suggestthat when the total opportunity forsleep per day is satisfactory, a splitsleep–wake schedule is notdetrimental to sleep or performance.This knowledge and implementationof a split work–rest schedule may beof assistance and beneficial for someindustries that require operations tobe sustained around the clock.

Charlotte Gupta from the Universityof South Australia took out the topYIA spot with her work examining theimpact of a meal, snack or not eatingduring the nightshift on drivingperformance. She randomly allocatedparticipants to one of the three eating

conditions during four simulatednightshifts, and tested on a drivingsimulator, PVT and subjectivesleepiness. Those in the snackcondition differed significantly relativeto the other two conditions, andshowed less driving speed and lanevariability, as well as fewer lapses andlower subjective sleepiness ratings.Her findings suggest that in healthy,young participants, eating a smallsnack during nightshift protectsagainst the deleterious effects ofeating a large meal.

Amy Reynolds from the AppletonInstitute for Behavioural Science,Central Queensland University alsokept up the winning streak. She wasawarded the Rob Pierce Grant in Aid,a new investigator prize thatfacilitates a project in the field ofsleep research. Congratulations toCharlotte and Amy on their successand we wish them both the best withtheir endeavours!

During the concurrent Year in Reviewsessions, Jill Dorrian furtherhighlighted the Chronobiology NobelPrize winners and commemoratedadvancements in chronobiology bytaking the audience down memorylane, to mark the successes of ourfield up to this point. Nicole Lovatochanged the pace by discussingDelayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder(DSWPD) and recent developments ofthe disorder, based on newaetiological standpoints. Shediscussed recent work by the DelayedSleep on Melatonin (DelSoM) studygroup, as well as the FlindersUniversity group (Micic et al)suggesting that not all individualswho are clinically diagnosed withDSWPD, show abnormal phase delayswith respect to either their desiredbedtime or to control patients. Thesestudies indicate that DSWPD may notbe a purely circadian rhythm-baseddisorder and that DSWPD phenotypesmay exist. The dichotomy has beentermed “circadian” and “non-

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circadian” DSWPD by the DelSoMteam. These latest findings raise theissue of whether circadian phaseassessment should become part of thestandard diagnostic evaluation forDSWPD to better differentiatephenotypes. They also pose thequestion of whether both types ofDSPWD phenotypes can be equallyand successfully treated using thecurrently recommended therapies.

To conclude a rewarding event, asymposium session on the ‘Healthimpacts of irregular work hours: Therole of sleep and circadian disruption”,was held on the last morning of themeeting. Three exceptional speakersdiscussed health impacts of irregularwork hours (Leilah Grant), sleep loss,shift work and gastrointestinal health(Amy Reynolds) and strategies forstaying healthy during a career in shiftwork (Jill Dorrian).

Chronobiology continues to makepromising advances, as evidenced inthis year’s Sleep DownUnder meeting.We encourage Council members toput forward symposium proposals forthe meeting in Brisbane in 2018 toensure Chronobiology maintains astrong presence at future SleepDownUnder meetings.

Gorica MicicChronobiology Council

Insomnia and SleepHealth CouncilWe hope everyone enjoyed theconference in Auckland this year andwas inspired by new knowledge toenhance their clinical and/or researchpractice.

Thank you to our members whoattended the Insomnia and SleepHealth AGM. We were lucky to haveStephanie Blower from the ASA inattendance. We discussed the overallpurpose and aims of our council andtalked about which aspects of sleep-health we are most interested in.

There was some discussion aroundideas for submissions for the nextconference, including presentations onCBTi resistance, insomnia andpersonality traits, and the role of bedpartners in insomnia.

Conference highlights:

• There was some very livelydiscussion around phenotyping ininsomnia after the symposium on‘Phenotyping: 3 new Ps of objectiveinsomnia measurement’ presentedby Christopher Gordon, SeanDrummond, Nicole Lovato, andNathaniel Marshall. One thing wecan conclude is that it is clear thatthere is much more researchrequired in this area.

• We particularly enjoyed the SleepHealth Foundation Public Forumand Debate on ‘Wearables forSleep’. Prof Sean Drummond wasthe adjudicator and had a difficultdecision to make after both sidespresented convincing and humorousarguments for and againstwearables for sleep. We willespecially not forget Dorothy Bruckasking the audience to rememberthe last time they had sex!

• Moira Junge and Lora Wu led thisyear’s Insomnia and Sleep HealthYear in Review. Moira talked aboutthe confronting statistics from theDeloitte report as well as discussingsome interesting studies aboutinfant use of touchscreens, andplasticity in sleep-wake patterns asdemonstrated by the sleep habits ofthe Hazda tribes. Lora Wu spokeabout important mediators of CBTi,web-based CBTi in chronicinsomnia, and the importance ofbeing informed about chronotypewhen treating insomnia.

• The symposia session on CBTi forBusy Health Professionals wasentertaining and informative. SeanDrummond spoke about the fourfactor model of insomnia and keystrategies of CBTi, Tony Fernando

spoke about the practicalapplication of CBTi, Hailey Meaklimprovided an interesting clinical caseexample, and Lora Wu spoke aboutmotivational factors in CBTi.

• The symposia on incorporatingmindful activities and meditation intreating sleep disorders wasengaging and provided food forthought on how to use thesestrategies in clinical practice (such asyoga poses to encourage movementin the morning).

Overall, the Sleep Health and InsomniaCouncil found this year’s conferenceto be exceptionally well-organised andbelieve it maintained its reputation forhigh quality science as well as achance to connect with colleaguesand friends.

Alix Mellor, Hailey Meaklim, James Slater, Yu Sun Bin, Lora Wuand Lauren BookerInsomnia and Sleep Health Council

Primary Care CouncilThe annual meeting of Councils at theAuckland Sleep Down Underconference in October saw theformation of a long needed PrimaryCare Council (PCC).

It is well known that effectivemanagement of sleep disorders and inparticular SDB can be achieved bysuitably upskilled Primary Care Doctors(Antic et al). This is particularlyrelevant given the issue of accessibilityfor patients.

The inaugural meeting was chaired byDr Maree Barnes who outlined theneed for a ‘Hub & Spoke’ Model ofCare where the Primary Care Doctorwith various levels of training canappropriately manage sleep disordersaccording to skill, whilst also acquiringthe knowledge to recognise morecomplex conditions that requirespecialist referral. The PCC is notexclusive to Doctors given that there isalready a level of care being provided

December 2017

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by the allied health sector, and thiswas reflected in the meetingattendance. There are already effectiveupskill training models available tointerested practitioners in bothAustralia and New Zealand, but thereis a need for evidence based guide-lines to focus on patient advocacy –accessibility, ethics and safety.

Luke KatahanasPrimary Care Co-Chair

Paediatric Council

NATA AAC meeting

Thanks to Jasneek Chawla forrepresenting the Paediatric Council atthe recent meeting in early November.Some updates:

• ASA Paediatric Standards (NATAaccreditation). This document hasbeen circulated by Carolyn Daikin forreview by the wider group.Suggestions will be reviewed by theworking party and a final documentwill be submitted to NATA AAC forconsideration early next year.

• Paediatric Technical Assessorsneeded! There is a callout for morepaediatric assessors for NATAaccreditation - physicians andscientists. The schedule of TADPcourses will be available on theNATA website.

If you are interested in this pleaseemail Stephanie Phillips:Stephanie.Phillips@nata.com.auor Janet Copland:Janet.Copland@nata.com.au. Theywill then provide an invite to attenda TADP course.

• Draft Document regarding offsitesupervision of a sleep lab in anon-metropolitan rural location.Intended to be added as an annex tothe current standards. This cameabout following a request for anadult lab to be accredited that wasoperating in a rural location withoffsite support from a metropolitan

larger lab. This is slightly different tothe branch model that currentlyexists - the main difference beingthat in the branch model the primarylab is responsible still for the satellitelabs but in this case it is independentwith an agreement to provide offsidesupervision and support. Jasneekraised concerns regarding safetyissues for this model (with rurallocations often not having dedicatedpaediatric services) but requestedinput from the wider paediatric sleepcommunity with regard to this.Watch this space!

• NATA sessions at ASA/ASTAConference 2018NATA representatives keen to beadvised of any specific areas thesleep community would like coveredin their breakfast session at nextyear’s conference. They are alsoconsidering a lunch session focusingon discussions regarding things thatcome up for technical assessorsduring assessments. Please emailJasneek Chawla with any queries /comments jasneek21@gmail.com

Guideline Working Parties:

Several other working groups havebeen working hard on developingvarious guidelines:

• ASA Guidelines for OximetryPlease contact Jacob Twiss for moreinformation JacobT@adhb.govt.nz

• ASA Guidelines for HomeVentilation This is planned to be a joint initiativebetween ASA/TSANZ. Please contactJacob Twiss for more informationAndrew.Tai@health.sa.gov.au

Nicole VerginisPaediatric council

Respiratory CouncilThe 2017 meeting of the AustralasianSleep Association and AustralasianSleep Technologists Association(normally I would say ‘Sleep

Downunder’, but not sure ourAuckland hosts would appreciate thistitle) was another successful yearshowcasing the respiratory researchoccurring around Australia, NZ, andthe world. Whilst many of thepresentation were focussed on OSA,2017 also saw an increasing numberof other respiratory disorders andproblems examined.

Presentations from Harvard andMonash Universities into thepathophysiological underpinnings ofOSA. In the year in review, Scott Sands(Harvard) highlighted recent work byAustralian early career researcherJennifer Cori (IBAS) showing that postarousal hypocapnia did not affectafter-discharge of upper airwaymuscles. Brad Edwards (Monash) andDanny Eckert (NeuRA) highlightedtheir respective laboratory’s work intranslating research into thepathophysiology of OSA into clinicalcare, such as the use of sedatives toincrease arousal threshold and thecompliance to oral device therapy.

On Saturday afternoon, sessionsexamining recent research into thephysiology of OSA highlightedupcoming research into new analyticsof OSA. Dwayne Mann (University ofQueensland) presented datasuggesting that obstructive apneas aremost commonly associated withreductions in neural ventilator drive.Laura Gell (Flinders University) showedwork supporting the notion thatarousals reduces ventilatory drivedespite innervation of the upperairway muscles. Shane Landry(Monash University) showed loopgain, a contributing factor to OSA, isreduced during REM sleep.

From a clinical perspective, KarenRedhead (University of Notre Dame)showed how OSA during pregnancy isindependently linked to antenataldepression, paving the way forpotential treatment studies, whilstKelly Loffler presented further datafrom the SAVE trial showing that CPAP

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does not alter renal function in OSApatients. Nicole Grivell (FlindersUniversity) presented preliminary datafrom the BreathMND trial highlightingthe need for better quality of lifemeasures for MND patients who havecommenced NIV. We look forward tomore findings from this study in theyears to come. BaddewithanaSenaratna presented work.

Julia Chapman provided an interestingpresentation on her time spent inSpain, where 23 universities andhospitals have joined to create the‘Translations Research in RespiratoryMedicine’. This has proved extremelysuccessful in establishing, and moreimportantly publishing, clinical trials inrecent years. Much of this comesdown to the “pragmatism, data-sharing, and generosidad (generosity)”of sleep researchers in Spain. As wemove into 2018, and beyond that, thenew NHMRC funding system, it maybe prudent to follow the example setby the Spanish. We hope allresearchers have a productive 2018,and look forward to seeingcontinuation of the research presentedhere in Brisbane next year.

David StevensRespiratory Council

Surgery CouncilThe surgical contingent had anotherproductive meet at Sleep DownUnder2017 in Auckland. It was pleasing tosee surgery was involved in theopening plenary and the BradleyEdwards symposium. The state oftraining in sleep surgery wasaddressed during the Sam RobinsonMemorial Lecture where all previousWollongong fellows of sleep surgerygathered to discuss past, present andfuture directions of training themodern day sleep surgeon.

The Surgical council convened todiscuss exciting research developmentsin the field of surgery. Recruitment of

the multi-center randomizedcontrolled trial of surgery versusconservative therapy has beencompleted, the results of which willhopefully be presented at the nextannual meeting. Numerous otherprojects, including one involving thehypoglossal nerve stimulator was alsoreviewed.

Representation of surgery has alwaysbeen challenging and we need to raisethe profile of surgery both within theEar, Nose and Throat community aswell as the sleep community at large.Crucial to this is recruitment ofsurgeons, dedicated to sleep thatadopt modern practices and provideservices that can reach theAustralasian community at large. Todo this we must train more fellows,increase surgeon attendance atmeetings, such as Sleep Down Underand the International Surgical SleepSociety, as well encourage attendanceat sleep surgical courses and ongoinginvolvement in research.

Lyndon ChanSurgery Council

Sleep PhysiciansCouncilThe recent scientific meeting inAuckland provided a diverse range ofofferings which spanned the entirespectrum of Sleep Medicine,showcasing some fantastic localspeakers and original research.

The Sleep Physicians Council willcontinue to nominate symposia foreach Annual Scientific Meeting andour representative on the ConferenceCommittee will endeavour to putforward ideas for next year’s meetingwhich will be relevant to practicingSleep Physicians. Changes have beenmade to the nomination ofinternational speakers for futureconferences and each Council willnow be required to nominate 2speakers each year, with the final

decision to be made by theConference Committee.

Our council meeting was attended bya small number of Physicians, whichreflects both the lower overallattendance at the Auckland meetingand also the relatively static number ofSleep Physicians as a proportion of thetotal ASA membership. We alsorecognise that the scheduling of theCouncil meetings simultaneouslylargely confines people to committingto a single council rather thanspreading their interests more broadly.We will approach the organising teamto endeavour to move our Councilmeeting to a stand-alone position,given that the interests of practicingphysicians continues to broaden overtime.

The primary aim of the SleepPhysicians Council is to provide a voicefor practicing Sleep Physicians withinthe structure of the ASA. It is notintended to oppose or replace any ofthe existing Councils. By necessity, ourCouncil represents all Sleep Physiciansin both Australia and New Zealand –those working in the public healthsystem, solo or group private practice,metropolitan or regional locations.Our output across the year will bevariable – largely determined by issues,as they arise, that may affectpracticing Sleep Physicians. Some ofthese issues may be broadly relevant(such as our successful lobbying tosupport our representatives at therecent MBS review) or may be morespecific (such as Private Insurancepolicies affecting NSW Physicians).With a diverse membership, we willnot only be positioned to be notifiedof relevant issues (simon@lasv.com.auor swieca@msdc.com.au) but willalso be able to mobilise relevantmembers to generate an appropriateresponse. We therefore stronglyencourage all Sleep Physicians to jointhis Council.

Simon FrenkelSleep Physicians Council co-chair

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The first quarter of the year has been a busy one for the Foundation.As Australia’s leading advocate forhealthy sleep, we aim to deliver asuccessful program of healthpromotion through broadcast andsocial media, and communityeducation.

The Sleep Health

Foundation Asleep on the Job report

The Foundation commissioned this report in2016 and in August this year the SleepHealth Foundation Asleep on the Job: reportby Deloitte Access Economics was launchedby the Minister for Health Greg Hunt MP inParliament House Canberra.

This is the third report commissioned by theSleep Health Foundation about the costs andconsequences of sleep disorders and/or poorsleep. Previous reports were published in2003 and 2010.

You can view the report Asleep on the Job:Costs of Inadequate Sleep in Australia, at:www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au

The Sleep Health

Foundation Speaker

Program

Recently the Sleep Health Foundation wasinvited to speak at a national forum on themental health and wellbeing of Australianschool principals held by Headspace, inMelbourne. Moira June joined otherrepresentatives in this forum includingBeyondblue and Smiling Mind. It was an

honour to be sharing the podium with theseinfluential organisations.

This was a great opportunity to network withlike-minded organisations and to spread theword about our mission to improve people’slives through better sleep and to cementour vision of being the leading nationaladvocate for sleep health.

It was also timely to be able to share ourdata from the Asleep on the Job report(www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/public-information/special-reports/asleep-on-the-job.html), as Headspace have their own dataon the health and wellbeing of Australianschool principals indicating they are 2.5times more likely than the general populationto have inadequate sleep.

There was a great deal of interest in theSleep Health Foundation and we can lookforward to more speaking opportunities andpotential collaborations.

In addition to delivering the bad news interms of how we as a nation have a sleep

crisis on our hands, we presented simplesleep solutions to an audience that generallyhas a desire to improve their sleep.

The Speaker program has been wellsupported this year with over 40presentations across the country thanks tomany of our members including JasneekChawla, Cathie Stephens, Jason Amatoury,Hailey Meaklim, Chris Kosky, Margaret Miller,Alex Wolkow, Dorothy Bruck, Charlotte Gupta,Moira Junge to name a few. We are currentlyrolling out 10 presentations to a majorresource company in Victoria.

The Speaker Program provides Sleep HealthFoundation members with the opportunity tohone their speaking skills and at the sametime they can get paid. If you are notregistered as a speaker email:admin@sleephealthfoundation.org.au andwe will send you details on how to register.

Helen BurdetteExecutive Secretary Sleep Health Foundation

Sleep Health Foundation www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au

How you can help?

These activities are costly. Please consider becoming a member for an annual contribution of just $75/yearand/or making an annual donation to help to offset these costs.

Donate: www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/files/pdfs/donation-form.pdf

Join: www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/files/MEMBERSHIP_APPLICATION_FINAL_Sept_2014.pdf

114/30 Campbell Street, Blacktown NSW 2148 Tel: +61 (0)2 9920 1968Fax: +61 (0)2 9672 3884 admin@sleep.org.au www.sleep.org.au ABN 51 138 032 014

Dates for the Diary

ASA/ASTA Sleep DownUnder 2018 18-20 October2018 Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre,Brisbane Australia www.sleepdownunder.com

International Conference on Childhood andAdolescence 25-27 January 2018 UniversidadeCatólica’s Congress Center in Lisbon, Portugalhttps://icca2018.eventqualia.net/en/en

3rd Clinical Update Sleep: International Conference2018 23 February 2018 Royal College of PhysiciansLondon www.guysandstthomasevents.co.uk/3rd-clinical-update-sleep-international-conference-2018

Edinburgh Sleep Medicine Course 201819-23 March 2018www.sleepconsultancyltd.co.uk/courses

9th International Surgical Sleep Society Meeting5-7 April 2018 Klinikum rechts der Isar TechnicalUniversity, Munich Germany www.isss-munich.com

International Pediatric Sleep Association (IPSA)27-29 April 2018 The Palais des Congrès de Paris, ParisFrance https://ipsa2018.com

RACP Congress 2018 14-16 May 2018International Convention Centre Sydney, Australiahttp://racpcongress.com.au

ASA International Travel Award(Funded by Queensland Sleep Partners)

asanews

Thank you to the ASA andQueensland Sleep Partners for the chance to attend the2017 SLEEP meeting inBoston, June 3rd to 7th.

It was a wonderful opportunity formyself and fellow awardee, Dr SophieCarter, from Neuroscience ResearchAustralia to showcase our work to aninternational audience. Both oralpresentations, mine entitled, “Dose-dependent homeostatic and circadianeffects of sleep restriction onsustained attention in adolescents”and Sophie's, “Effects of one monthof nightly zopiclone on obstructivesleep apnoea severity and measuresof alertness: A randomised controlledtrial” were well received. This awardallowed us, not only to present our

work, but to meet with existing andnew international collaborators;opportunities that would not havebeen possible without the supportfrom the ASA and Queensland SleepPartners. This was an invaluable

experience and I highly recommend itto potential future applicants.

Michelle ShortInternational Travel Award recipient2016