Sleep/Wake Research Centre

Moe Tika~Moe Pai

The Sleep/Wake Research Centre is a Foundation Centre in Massey University’s School of Public Health, which joined the School in 2003.  The Centre had its origins at the Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences (Otago University) in 1998. 

The Centre’s Mission Statement is:

To improve health, performance, safety and well-being through a programme of basic and applied research with an integrated approach to sleep and waking function.

The Centre conducts multi-disciplinary research to increase scientific knowledge about:

• The relationships between sleep and waking function
• The role of the circadian biological clock in the regulation of both sleep and waking function
• The effects of shift work on the biological clock and sleep, and on health, productivity, safety and social participation
• Effective shift work and fatigue risk management strategies at the individual, company, and regulatory levels
• The epidemiology of sleep disorders, their consequences for individuals, families and communities, and evidence-based development of health services for their diagnosis and treatment

We are committed to working in collaboration with public and private sector organisations and community groups to develop practical, evidence-based programmes that reduce the detrimental effects of sleep loss and circadian disruption in all sectors of society. Integral to this effort is our commitment to make our science accessible to the general public through the media, public speaking engagements, and innovative projects.

We are also committed to increasing understanding of sleep and circadian physiology across the health sciences, through undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, and our world-class research training opportunities.