Danny Eckert BAppl Sci, BSc (Hons), PhD, FAASM is a Matthew Flinders Professor at Flinders University, a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow, and serves as Director of Sleep Health at Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (FHMRI) where he leads a comprehensive basic sciences and translational clinical sleep research program comprised of >70 multidisciplinary researchers. His research focuses on identification of the causes of sleep apnoea, optimisation of existing therapies, and development of new targeted treatments.

Clinical Associate Professor Kristina Kairaitis graduated from the University of NSW with a Science/Medicine degree in 1992. She completed a first class honours degree in foetal renal physiology with Professor Eugenie Lumbers in 1987, and briefly worked in 1998 as a research assistant before completing her undergraduate medical degree, training at St Vincent’s Hospital. After completing an internship and residency at St Vincent’s, she began physicians training at Concord hospital and then advanced training in respiratory and sleep medicine at Westmead Hospital, completing her FRACP in 1999. After completion of her specialist training she commenced her PhD in upper airway physiology under the supervision of Clinical Professor John Wheatley and Associate Professor Terry Amis. The focus of her PhD was the mechanics of the upper airway extraluminal tissue space and during her PhD she developed unique methodologies to measure pressures in the upper airway extraluminal tissue space in a research model. Since awarding of her PhD she has continued to focus on understanding how the behavior of the peripharyngeal tissues influence the collapsibility of the upper airway. In obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) clinic populations she has also been examining the link between snoring, OSA and cerebrovascular disease. More recently she has commenced research into the interactions between sleep disorders and cancer, in particular endometrial, breast and melanoma. She continues to be involved in clinical management of patients with respiratory and sleep disorders at Westmead Hospital and in teaching medical students from the University of Sydney.

Professor Peter Cistulli is a clinician researcher with over 30 years’ experience in the fields of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine. He is Professor of Sleep Medicine at the University of Sydney and holds the ResMed Chair. He leads the Sleep Research Theme within the multidisciplinary Charles Perkins Centre and is also Clinical Director of the Sleep Medicine Program at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney. He holds a NHMRC Leadership Fellowship to support his research program on the links between sleep health and cardiovascular disease. He is a former president of the ASA and former director of the Sleep Health Foundation.