Chronobiology of mental health projects
FamilySleeps
Our "FamilySleeps" project investigates circadian rhythms in families. We do this in the context of genetic, environmental, and social synchrony in families with neurodevelopmental conditions. This project is funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Investigator Grant awarded to Dr Lorna Lopez, under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 950010).
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Our team of scientific and clinical researchers, including public patient involvement experts, works on the underlying biological basis of disrupted circadian rhythms in families. This understanding will help address sleep disruption and other poor outcomes in families with autism, as well as increase our understanding of the role of circadian rhythms in neurodevelopment in a family context.
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If you would like to know more about this project, please read the following Irish Times article Autism and sleep disruption – a family affair.
Ambient-BD
This five year project is led by the University of Edinburgh and co-investigators Dr Lorna Lopez, Professor Andrew Coogan (Department of Psychology), and Dr Cathy Wyse in Maynooth University. It is funded by the Wellcome Trust (2023-2028). Ambient-BD will investigate the role of variability in long-term circadian rhythms in the trajectory of disease in people with bipolar disorder. The team will also work with Bipolar Scotland to co-produce an innovative programme of knowledge exchange on the theme of ‘Sleep, circadian rhythms and bipolar disorder'. For more information please visit the Ambient-BD website here.​​
Ambient-Teen
This project is led by the University of Edinburgh (2023-2025). It is funded by The Medical Research Council (MRC). The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of applying an innovative passive device for assessing sleep in a sample of UK adolescents. A young persons advisory group (YPAG) will be used to inform research practice and co-produce research materials. The long term aim is to develop protocols and analytical approaches that facilitate the use of non-invasive sleep data collection methods in future longitudinal adolescent cohort studies.
Kathleen Lonsdale Institute for Human Health Concept Funding for Challenge-Based Research
In 2023 we were delighted to receive funding for our project “Rhythms of Life: Exploring the Time Dimensions of Human Health and Wellbeing”. The objective of this project is to bring together a transdisciplinary team with expertise in biology, behavioural neurobiology, artificial intelligence and data science. We want to build a research team with a data-driven focus on the timing mechanisms that synchronise human physiology to the environment, how they relate to health and wellbeing, and to the non-communicable diseases of urbanisation.
Circadian Mental Health Network
We are members of the Circadian Mental Health Network, based at the University of Edinburgh. This is a collaboration between researchers, clinicians, patients and the public which is focused on driving discovery and innovation at the interface of sleep, circadian rhythms and mental health. To find out more, please visit their website here.
Previous projects
Effects of Daylight Exposure and Vitamin D on Circadian Rhythms, Mood, and Sleep.
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Disturbed circadian rhythms are a feature of many neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions in adults and children. Our overall aim for this pilot study led by Hannah Walsh was to investigate the reasons for this. Exposure to daylight is suspected to be involved in the association between mood, sleep, and circadian rhythms but we do not have good methods for quantifying intensity and duration of daylight exposure in individuals. Our research team were trialling and optimizing the use wearable sensors to
assess exposure to daylight and to measure associations with sleep, mood, Vitamin D, and circadian rhythms in a small sample of adults. We aimed to develop novel methods for quantifying daylight exposure, as well as support further work to uncover interactions between pathways that regulate circadian rhythms and Vitamin D biochemistry. This research focused on understanding the diverse mechanisms through which sunlight exposure affects human health.
