Study Sites
Coventry, United Kingdom
Coventry University
Rhodes University
Makhanda, South Africa
University of Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa
University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
Coventry, United Kingdom
Coventry University
Laura Roden Co-Investigator
PhD (Cantab), BSc(Hons) (Wits), MRSB, FHEA, Associate Professor in the Centre for Health and Life Sciences, Coventry University
Yvonne Milton
PhD, MSc, DipOT (LHMC), BA, PGCert (Higher Education), MRCOT, Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Care; Research Fellow in the Centre for Health and Life Sciences, Coventry University
Anita Lee
BSc Psychology, Research Assistant in the Centre for Health and Life Sciences, Coventry University
Fiona Belford
MSc Psychology, BSc Anthropology, Research Assistant in the Centre for Health and Life Sciences, Coventry University
Erika Abric
BSc(Hons) Criminal Psychology, Research Assistant in the Centre for Health and Life Sciences, Coventry University
Sean Ryan
MSc Health Psychology, BSc(Hons) Psychology, AFHEA, Research Assistant in the Centre for Health and Life Sciences, Coventry University
Makhanda, South Africa
Rhodes University
A/Prof Jonathan Davy
Co-Investigator
Noel Reddy
Project Coordinator
Liyabona Godla
Research Assistant
Siyamthanda Dyantyie
Research Assistant
Dr Swantje Wells
Co-Investigator
Nthutu Blow
Community Liaison Officer
Siphokazi Jobela
Research Assistant
Xolisa Adam
Research Assistant
Cape Town, South Africa
University of Cape Town
Dr Gosia Lipinska is a registered and practising clinical neuropsychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cape Town. She has a long-standing interest in the relationship between sleep and cognitive-affective functioning. Based on current societal trends, many people, of all backgrounds, genders and ages, experience sleep deprivation and as a consequence report difficulties with memory and emotional regulation.
Gosia is interested in how healthy sleep promotes memory consolidation and stable emotional functioning. She also investigates how individuals with psychiatric difficulties and co-occurring sleep disruption experience these cognitive-affective difficulties. These are her core research foci, but she is also interested in the intersection of sleep, exercise and health.
Furthermore, she supports budding young scientists in their sleep science journey, by supervising postgraduate students as they work towards their Masters and Doctoral degrees. She also serves on the South African Society for Sleep Health’s Education subcommittee to promote access to sleep science for those students.
A/Prof Gosia Lipinska Principal Investigator
Dr Rae is an Associate Professor in the Division of Physiological Sciences within the Department of Human Biology, and the Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Sport Research Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
She holds a PhD from UCT and is a C2 rated scientist (South African National Research Foundation). Her research focuses on sleep and circadian rhythms, and she is especially interested in how sleep is associated with physical health (obesity, cardiometabolic diseases, HIV), mental health (depression and anxiety) and performance (workplace and athletic), spanning adolescents to older adults, living in urban and rural settings.
Rae is actively involved in the sleep community in South Africa and is a Board Member of the newly formed South African Society for Sleep and Health. She is also passionate about making her research meaningful for the public.
To this end, she is the current Director of UCT’s spinoff company, Sleep Science, whose vision is ‘thriving people through healthy sleep’. Sleep Science enables Rae and her team to put into practice what they learn from research through offering services to the public to help people assess and optimise their sleep, as well as offering various sleep education platforms such as talks, workshops and courses.
A/Prof Dale Rae Co-Investigator
Raphaella Lewis
Data Manager and Analyst
Christena Pieterse
Research Assistant
Nandipha Sinyanya
Research Assistant
Ronique Wilson
Research Assistant
Kirstie Davies
MSc Candidate
Tilly Weston
MSc Candidate
Teagan Niemand
Project Coordinator
Leandri Swarts
Research Assistant
Nonhle Mkhize
Research Assistant
Tariro Namawa
Research Assistant
Morgan Naidoo
MSc Candidate
Johannesburg, South Africa
University of the Witwatersrand
A/Prof Karine Scheuermaier is Head of the Wits Sleep Laboratory and an Associate Professor at the School of Physiology at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is an MD (specialty clinical haematology) with a postdoctoral training in sleep and circadian rhythms at Harvard Medical School, USA.
Her research focuses on sleep and circadian physiology and how modifications in sleep and circadian rhythms are associated with non-communicable diseases, in particular immune dysregulation, cardiometabolic risk and mental health.
She leads an active research group with several Masters and PhD students. She is part of several collaborative research studies on sleep and circadian rhythms spanning South Africa, Nigeria, The Netherlands, the UK and the USA. Those studies have focused on specific sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea or investigating lower sleep quality in the context of HIV or Long Covid syndrome.
She has received a C2 rating from the South African National Research Foundation. She is the Chair of the Science Committee of the South African Society for Sleep and Health (sassh.org.za) and is passionate about communicating on sleep and circadian health and science.
A/Prof Karine Scheuermaier Co-Investigator
Associate Professor F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé, PhD. MD. (Medical Epidemiologist, Specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine) is the Associate Director and Head of Research at the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transition Research Unit, School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand.
In the 25 years of experience in rural Africa, Gómez-Olivé has been the PI, co-PI and Co-Investigator of numerous studies.
Prof. Gómez-Olivé research interests comprise Health Systems; Adolescents’ health (HIV prevention and treatment, sleep disorders and mental health); and the health and wellbeing of adults and older population, (non-communicable diseases, sleep disorders, HIV, frailty, multimorbidity, and migration and health). Gómez-Olivé has co-authored more than 250 publications and has supervised Master, PhD and Post-doctoral students to completion.
A/Prof F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé Co-Investigator