The Scientists

Professor Drew Dawson
Director, Appleton Institute

Drew established the sleep research group at the University of Adelaide in 1992, which since then has grown to become the largest behavioural sleep research group in Australia.

In recent years Drew has broadened his research interests, and built a broad multidisciplinary team, forming the Appleton Institute in January 2012.

Associate Professor Greg Roach
Sleep and Circadian Physiology

Greg is interested in the effects of sleep deprivation on recovery sleep and circadian physiology. He is involved in conducting forced desynchrony protocols whereby participants are removed from any external time cues (such as watches, television and the day/night cycle). Greg has also been involved in the mathematical modelling of fatigue during shiftwork, particularly in the aviation industry where multiple timezones add complexity to the circadian rhythm. Recently Greg has also become involved in investigating the effects of sleep on exercise physiology, working with elite athletes such as the Australian Cricket team.

Dr Charli Sargent
Senior Research Fellow in Sleep and Circadian Physiology

Dr Charli Sargent is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Appleton Institute. Since completing her PhD in August 2006, Dr Sargent has been involved in two major areas of research (i) field-based studies examining the sleep/wake behaviour of elite athletes, and (ii) laboratory-based studies examining the relative impacts of sleep, wake and body clock on metabolic function, eating behaviour and neurobehavioural performance.

Dr Xuan Zhou
Research Fellow in Sleep and Circadian Physiology

Xuan completed his PhD in 2012, focussing on how sleep-wake patterns affect people’s performance capacity. He is primarily interested in research into the human circadian rhythm and response to external zeitgebers.