Circadian clocks control the timing and 24-hour periodicity of virtually all physiological rhythms including sleep, cognition, and metabolism. However, the demands of our 24/7 society often result in misalignment of circadian rhythms with each other, the environment (e.g., light), and behaviour leading to in inadequate sleep, increased risk of accidents, and in the long-term, development of disease including cancer and diabetes. In this talk I will speak about how we use biophysical modelling of circadian rhythms, sleep, and alertness to better understand the biological mechanisms behind these rhythms and about our journey of research translation to help solve real-world problems caused by circadian misalignment, e.g., in shiftwork and jetlag.
Demertzi Athena