Short Course 1: Psychiatry for sleep clinicians: neurodiversity, adolescence and complex comorbidity across the lifespan

Wednesday, November 11, 2026
8:15 AM - 4:00 PM

Details

Sleep clinicians increasingly manage patients with complex psychiatric comorbidity, neurodevelopmental disorders, trauma histories, and medication-related sleep disturbance. Meanwhile, psychiatrists often lack structured training in recognising and managing sleep disorders such as OSA, insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, hypersomnia and parasomnias. This short course provides a clinically practical, cross-disciplinary program designed to strengthen sleep–psychiatry integration and improve patient outcomes. The course is designed especially for sleep physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. It has a particular focus on neurodiversity (ADHD, ASD, intellectual disability), adolescent sleep and mental health. Attendees will benefit from cross-disciplinary education and collaboration and learn new approaches to address some of the increasingly-important challenges they face in their clinical practice.


Speaker

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Dr David Cunnington
Sleep Physician
Sunshine Coast University Hospital and University of the Sunshine Coast

Chair

Biography

Dr David Cunnington is a sleep physician at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, and an Adjunct Fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He is Chair of the clinical committee of the Australasian Sleep Association and a Field Editor for the journal Sleep Medicine. David's clinical and research interests span insomnia and its behavioural and pharmacological management, sleep diagnostics, complex sleep disordered breathing, narcolepsy and disorders of hypersomnolence, and sleep in psychiatric conditions.
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Associate Professor Jasneek Chawla
Smo Paediatric Respiratory And Sleep Medicine
Children's Health Queensland

Session 1 - Welcome and workshop overview: Brief introduction to the day and learning objectives

8:15 AM - 8:30 AM

Biography

A/Professor Jasneek Chawla is an experienced Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Specialist at Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane and a clinician researcher leading the Kids Sleep Research Group at the Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland. Her clinical and research interests include sleep in children with complex disability, other vulnerable populations and translating emerging paediatric sleep technologies for clinical practice. As the theme leader for Children and Disability within UQ’s Disability Collaboratory Group, Jas is a strong advocate for children with disability and works closely with many consumer representative organisations and individuals with lived experience in her work. Jas is the current president of the Australasian Sleep Association and is passionate about improving sleep for all Australians.
Doug Wilson
Health SA

Session 2 - Sleep and psychiatry: a two-way street: Sleep disturbance as a psychiatric symptom

8:30 AM - 8:50 AM

Biography

Christine Blackwell
Woolcock Institute

Session 2 - Sleep and psychiatry: a two-way street: Sleep in complex psychiatric presentations

8:50 AM - 9:10 AM

Biography

Prof Garun Hamilton
Director Of Sleep Medicine
Monash Health

Session 2 - Sleep and psychiatry - a two-way street: Case illustrations from adult practice

9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

Biography

Dr Hiep Pham
Paediatric Respiratory Sleep Consultant
Royal Children's Hospital

Session 2 - Sleep and psychiatry - a two-way street: Case illustrations from paediatric practice

9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Biography

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Dr David Cunnington
Sleep Physician
Sunshine Coast University Hospital and University of the Sunshine Coast

Session 2 - Sleep and psychiatry - a two-way street: Round up and discussion

9:50 AM - 10:00 AM

Biography

Dr David Cunnington is a sleep physician at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, and an Adjunct Fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He is Chair of the clinical committee of the Australasian Sleep Association and a Field Editor for the journal Sleep Medicine. David's clinical and research interests span insomnia and its behavioural and pharmacological management, sleep diagnostics, complex sleep disordered breathing, narcolepsy and disorders of hypersomnolence, and sleep in psychiatric conditions.
Helen Heussler
Queensland Children’s Hospital

Session 3 - Across the lifespan: sleep, neurodevelopment, neurodiversity and emerging mental Illness: Circadian shift, neurodevelopment and emerging mental illness over childhood, adolescence and into adulthood

10:30 AM - 10:50 AM

Biography

Nicole Papadopolous
Monash University

3a) Clinical presentations and assessment : Sleep in children with neurodiversity (ADHD / ASD)

10:50 AM - 11:05 AM

Biography

Miriam Cameron
Queensland Children’s Hospital

Session 3a) Clinical presentations and assessment: Sleep in children with complex neurodisability

11:05 AM - 11:20 AM

Biography

Dr Daniel Sullivan
Lecturer In Clinical Psychology
Griffith University

Session 3a) Clinical presentations and assessment: Adolescent sleep and neurodiversity

11:20 AM - 11:35 AM

Biography

Joel Aizenstros
The Victoria Clinic

Session 3a) Clinical presentations and assessment: Sleep in adults with ADHD

11:35 AM - 11:50 AM

Biography

Daniel Hynes
Monash Health

Session 3a) Clinical presentations and assessment: Sleep in adults with ASD and intellectual disability

11:50 AM - 12:05 PM

Biography

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Associate Professor Jasneek Chawla
Smo Paediatric Respiratory And Sleep Medicine
Children's Health Queensland

Session 3a) Clinical presentations and assessment: Round up and discussion

12:05 PM - 12:15 PM

Biography

A/Professor Jasneek Chawla is an experienced Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Specialist at Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane and a clinician researcher leading the Kids Sleep Research Group at the Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland. Her clinical and research interests include sleep in children with complex disability, other vulnerable populations and translating emerging paediatric sleep technologies for clinical practice. As the theme leader for Children and Disability within UQ’s Disability Collaboratory Group, Jas is a strong advocate for children with disability and works closely with many consumer representative organisations and individuals with lived experience in her work. Jas is the current president of the Australasian Sleep Association and is passionate about improving sleep for all Australians.
Fiona Hudson
Queensland Children’s Hospital

Session 3b) Management strategies: Practical approaches to managing sleep disturbance in children with complex neurodisability

1:00 PM - 1:20 PM

Biography

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Prof Aliza Werner-Seidler
Professor
Black Dog Institute

Session 3b) Management strategies: Targeting sleep to prevent and treat depression and anxiety in adolescents

1:20 PM - 1:40 PM

Biography

Aliza Werner-Seidler is a Professor and Clinical Psychologist at the Black Dog Institute, UNSW Sydney, where she leads the Adolescent Mental Health Research Group. She completed her PhD at UNSW Sydney before undertaking postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge. Aliza’s research interests include the prevention of depression, anxiety and sleep problems in adolescents and young people. She leads a large longitudinal cohort study into risk and protective factors for adolescent mental health (Future Proofing Study) with a goal of enhancing our knowledge about novel ways to reduce the risk and impact of mental ill-health in young people. One of the questions being addressed by her research is how improving sleep health and reversing poor sleep during adolescence may reduce risk mental health risk. Aliza has published over 100 manuscripts and has co-developed and evaluated several digital interventions to support teenagers experiencing insomnia and mental health problems (Sleep Ninja, ClearlyMe). These programs are now freely available and have been used by thousands of young Australians.
Sara Winter
Program Manager
Australasian Sleep Association

Session 3b) Management strategies: How to adapt CBT-I and behavioural strategies for trauma, mood disorders and psychosis

1:40 PM - 2:00 PM

Biography

Sanil Rege
Psychscene

Session 4 - Trauma, inflammation and sleep: How pain syndromes, trauma and neurodivergence overlap and their effect on sleep

2:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Biography

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Dr David Cunnington
Sleep Physician
Sunshine Coast University Hospital and University of the Sunshine Coast

Session 5 - Lived experience stories and panel discussion: Multidisciplinary case discussions integrating neurodiversity, trauma, pharmacology and comorbidity

3:00 PM - 3:45 PM

Biography

Dr David Cunnington is a sleep physician at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, and an Adjunct Fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He is Chair of the clinical committee of the Australasian Sleep Association and a Field Editor for the journal Sleep Medicine. David's clinical and research interests span insomnia and its behavioural and pharmacological management, sleep diagnostics, complex sleep disordered breathing, narcolepsy and disorders of hypersomnolence, and sleep in psychiatric conditions.
Fiona Hudson
Queensland Children’s Hospital

Session 5 - Lived experience stories and panel discussion: Multidisciplinary case discussions integrating neurodiversity, trauma, pharmacology and comorbidity

3:00 PM - 3:45 PM

Biography

Joel Aizenstros
The Victoria Clinic

Session 5 - Lived experience stories and panel discussion: Multidisciplinary case discussions integrating neurodiversity, trauma, pharmacology and comorbidity

3:00 PM - 3:45 PM

Biography

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Associate Professor Jasneek Chawla
Smo Paediatric Respiratory And Sleep Medicine
Children's Health Queensland

Session 6 - Building collaborative sleep–mental health models: Pathways for multidisciplinary networking and collaboration

3:45 PM - 4:00 PM

Biography

A/Professor Jasneek Chawla is an experienced Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Specialist at Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane and a clinician researcher leading the Kids Sleep Research Group at the Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland. Her clinical and research interests include sleep in children with complex disability, other vulnerable populations and translating emerging paediatric sleep technologies for clinical practice. As the theme leader for Children and Disability within UQ’s Disability Collaboratory Group, Jas is a strong advocate for children with disability and works closely with many consumer representative organisations and individuals with lived experience in her work. Jas is the current president of the Australasian Sleep Association and is passionate about improving sleep for all Australians.
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