In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Spencer Roberts, a researcher at Deakin University, to dive deep into his recent paper: “A systematic review and meta-analysis of sleep following mild traumatic brain injury: A synthesis of the literature according to age and time since injury.” Together, we unpack the complexities of sleep disruption after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and what the latest science is telling us. Episode Highlights – What We Discuss What the systematic review investigates...
Jul 31, 2025•53 min•Ep. 161
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Samantha Bramich to delve into the science of sleep, dreams, and brain health. Samantha, originally from the New South Wales Central Coast and now based in Tasmania, brings a wealth of expertise in sleep medicine, psychological science, and neurodegenerative diseases. We unpack her recently published paper: “Dream Characteristics are Sex-Specific in REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder and Healthy Older Adults” , exploring how our dreams can reveal deeper insights in...
May 09, 2025•53 min•Ep. 160
In this episode, I chat with Dr Kathleen Reinhardt regarding her research into primates and how their sleep has evolved with their environment. Dr Reinhardt grew up in New York, completing a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology at Stony Brook University before moving to the United Kingdom for further study. She completed a Master of Science in Primate Conservation and a PhD in Anthropology and Geography at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford before moving to Canada. Dr Reinhardt is currently based a...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 10Ep. 159
In this episode, I chat with Dr Michael Grandner regarding his book, “Sleep and Sport – Physical performance, mental performance, injury prevention and competitive advantage for athletes, coaches and trainers.” Dr. Grandner is the Director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, Director of the Behavioural Sleep Medicine Clinic at the Banner-University Medical Centre in Tucson, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the UA College of Medicine...
Mar 04, 2025•53 min•Ep. 158
In this episode, I chat with Dr Nicole Lindsay regarding her research paper titled “Trauma or Transcendence. The relationship between near death experiences and dreaming.” Dr Nicole Lindsay is a senior lecturer and researcher based within the School of Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand. Her research is primarily focused on near-death experiences, end-of-life phenomena, exceptional human experiences, consciousness, spirituality and Indigenous psychologies. She completed a PhD on the to...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 157
In this episode, I chat with Dr. Brigitte Holzinger regarding her paper “Cognitions in Sleep, Lucid Dreaming as an intervention for Nightmares in patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Dr. Brigitte Holzinger was born in Vienna, Austria and studied psychology at the University of Vienna, gaining her PhD at Stanford University in California. Brigitte is a psychologist, psychotherapist for Integrative Gestalt, sleep and dream researcher, teacher and writer. She founded the Institute for Con...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 156
In this episode, I chat with Dr Royette T. Dubar about her research paper, "What's your religious coping profile? Difference in religious orientation and subjective sleep among religious coping groups in the United States." Dr. Royette T. Dubar was born on the small Caribbean Island of Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic). While pursuing an Associate's Degree in General Liberal Arts at the University of St. Martin, she took her first Psychology course and developed a passion...
Dec 13, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 155
Nicola, with 26 years in business management and bookkeeping, assists business owners to save time and grow their businesses. Nicola holds a Diploma in Office Management, she is a registered BAS Agent, an Everything Disc Practitioner and holds a Certificate in Organisation and Executive Coaching. Nicola’s journey includes diverse roles in small business operations to now having her own small business. Her book shares hands-on insights, learned from real challenges, offering down-to-earth advice ...
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 154
Dr Elie Gottlieb returns for another chat on the Sleep4Performance podcast. Elie is an applied sleep & circadian research scientist with over 10 years of sleep, circadian rhythm, and neuroscience research experience across Fortune 100, startup, and academic (clinical) sectors. Currently, he leads the conceptualization and execution of internal applied sleep & digital health tech studies and support the development of new sleep-circadian improvement products & features. He remains a V...
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 153
In this episode, I talk with my friend Serena Bauducco from Sweden, by way of Italy. In this episode, we discuss Serena’s latest paper, which was published in Sleep Medicine Reviews. Serena Bauducco, Meg Pillion, Kate Bartel, Chelsea Reynolds, Michal Kahn, Michael Gradisar, “A bidirectional model of sleep and technology use: A theoretical review of How much, for whom, and which mechanisms” Read the full paper here https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2024.101933 This study and its findings are going t...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 152
In this episode, I am joined by Dr Hannah Scott. We specifically discuss her recent work, “Are we getting enough sleep? Frequent irregular sleep was found in an analysis of over 11 million nights of objective in-home sleep data. In this study, data were analyzed from registered users of the Withings under-mattress Sleep Analyzer (predominantly located in Europe and North America) who had ≥28 nights of sleep recordings, averaging ≥4 per week. Sleep durations (the average and standard deviation) w...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Episode Title: Exploring the Impact of Nocturnal Transportation Noise on Health with Dr. Laurie Thiesse In this episode, I chat with Dr. Laurie Thiesse, a research scientist based in France. We delve into her work on the short-term effects of nocturnal transportation noise on cardio-metabolic outcomes and its association with sleep, which was the focus of her doctoral thesis. Specifically, we discuss her paper: "Adverse impact of nocturnal transportation noise on glucose regulation in healthy yo...
Jul 14, 2024•41 min•Ep. 151
In this episode, I chat with Luis Mascaro. Luis is a PhD Candidate (Clinical Psychology) at the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University. His research interests are in sleep, circadian rhythms, elite athletes, and sex and gender differences. Clinical interests in insomnia and mental health. We discussed Luis's recent publication "Mascaro L, Leota J, Hoffman D, Rajaratnam SMW, Drummond SPA, Facer-Childs ER. Disruptions to sleep and circadian rhythms are associated with poor...
Jun 04, 2024•51 min•Ep. 150
A returning guest, Hailey is a psychologist and research scientist internationally certified in behavioural sleep medicine. She practices clinically at St Vincent's Hospital Sleep Centre in Melbourne, predominantly working with clients experiencing insomnia. She is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She has completed her PhD at Monash University with Dr Melinda Jackson. Her PhD focuses on advancing healthcare providers' training in evidence-based insomnia treatments. For...
May 28, 2024•47 min•Ep. 149
In this episode, Dr Ian Dunican talks to Professor Sarah Blunden, whom he recently connected with at the Australasian Sleep Association' Sleep Down Under' conference in South Australia. Sarah's research and work centres around paediatric sleep, focusing on promoting the importance of healthy sleep habits while young, paving the way for quality sleep in adulthood. Her main areas of interest are infant sleep and sleep interventions (that do not necessitate ignoring nor controlled crying), sleep ed...
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 148
I loved this episode. I am a fan of horror, thriller and ghost stories, and I am intrigued by the relationship between sleep and nightmares. In this episode, Brian and I discuss his work, including his book Sleep Paralysis: Historical, Psychological, and Medical Perspectives https://www.amazon.com.au/Sleep-Paralysis-Historical-Psychological-Perspectives/dp/0199313806 and Monsters on the Couch: The Real Psychological Disorders Behind Your Favorite Horror Movies https://www.amazon.com.au/Monsters-...
Feb 20, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 147
I speak with Professor Chris Barnes in the episode on sleep and leadership. Chris is an international expert on the relationship between sleep, fatigue, and leadership in business. Check out his TEDx talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8rpaCSm708 and connect with Chris; all of his research contact details and socials can be found here https://foster.uw.edu/faculty-research/directory/christopher-barnes/ For further inquiries, contact me at iandunican@sleep4performance.com.au or visit www.sle...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 146
Discover an essential episode featuring weight-cutting experts Jordan Sullivan and Danny Lennon, renowned authorities in the field. Their latest book, "Making Weight: The Ultimate Science Based Guide to Cutting Weight for Combat Sports," is a must-read, available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Weight-Ultimate-Science-Cutting/dp/173940890X . In this episode, we explore the intricacies of the five phases of making weight, emphasizing not only the scientific aspects but also ...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 145
Welcome to the final of three episodes with Jesse Cook and Dr Jonathan Charest. These episodes break down the excellent review by these two gurus. We break down the lad's recent review and much more in these episodes. Cook, J.D., Charest, J. Sleep and Performance in Professional Athletes. Curr Sleep Medicine Rep 9, 56–81 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40675-022-00243- Check out Jesse’s presentation at the S4P seminar in 2022 Jesse Cook: Circadian Preference, Sleep Inertia, and Running Performa...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 144
Welcome to the secont of three episodes with Jesse Cook and Dr Jonathan Charest. These episodes break down the excellent review by these two gurus. We break down the lad's recent review and much more in these episodes. Cook, J.D., Charest, J. Sleep and Performance in Professional Athletes. Curr Sleep Medicine Rep 9, 56–81 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40675-022-00243- Check out Jesse’s presentation at the S4P seminar in 2022 Jesse Cook: Circadian Preference, Sleep Inertia, and Running Perform...
Sep 28, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 143
In this episode, I am joined by Dr Jade Murray. Dr. Jade M. Murray completed a PhD programme at the Monash University Sleep and Circadian Medicine Laboratory in 2018. Dr Murray's broad research interests include studying the effects of circadian misalignment on overall health in healthy and sleep-disordered populations and developing simplified methods for determining the timing of the circadian phase. An important innovation in her work has been tracking light-dark exposure data over time to bu...
Aug 21, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 142
Welcome to the first three episodes with Jesse Cook and Dr Jonathan Charest. These episodes break down the excellent review by these two gurus. We break down the lad's recent review and much more in these episodes. Cook, J.D., Charest, J. Sleep and Performance in Professional Athletes. Curr Sleep Medicine Rep 9, 56–81 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40675-022-00243- Check out Jesse’s presentation at the S4P seminar in 2022 Jesse Cook: Circadian Preference, Sleep Inertia, and Running Performance...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 141
In this episode, I chat with Dr Haresh Suppiah is a Lecturer and Research Fellow in Sport and Exercise Science and Sport Analytics. He was previously a Senior Sport Physiologist and Head of Research and Development at the National Youth Sports Institute (Singapore), where he worked with multiple Olympic sports in preparation for regional and international competitions. His doctoral and current research focuses on the performance impact of sleep in adolescent athletes. His research also extends t...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 140
In this episode, I chat with Dr Peter Tierney. Currently working as a Senior Research Scientist at Lululemon Product Innovation (Advanced Concepts). Previously Peter spent 8 years working in high-performance sports in football/soccer (The English FA), rugby union (Leinster Rugby), and swimming (UCD elite team) as a hybrid Performance Coach & Sports Scientist. He also has experience with Gaelic football & hurling, amateur rugby union, and schools level rugby and hockey. His experience spa...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 139
In this conversation, I chat with my colleague and former PhD student Dr Mitchell Turner on the relationship between sleep and tennis performance. Mitchell is a researcher in the Systematic Profiling in Neurological Conditions (SPIN) team at Edith Cowan University and a sleep consultant at Melius Consulting. Mitchell’s educational background includes exercise and sports science, strength and conditioning and sleep science. Mitchell has recently completed his PhD thesis, which aimed to understand...
May 01, 2023•54 min•Ep. 138
In this episode, I talk with Professor John Lesku John is interested in most things related to sleep. Using behavioural observations, accelerometry for remote monitoring, and neurophysiological recording techniques, he seeks to provide insight into how sleep and sleep functions have evolved in different types of animals, from flatworms to birds and mammals. He also studies how ecological factors (e.g., predation risk, reproduction) influence the amount, composition, depth, and timing of sleep. M...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 136
In this episode, I meet with Carissa Gardiner. Carissa is a PhD candidate within the Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury, and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre at the Australian Catholic University. Her research is focused on the relationship between caffeine and sleep. This episode discusses her recent publication: Gardiner C, Weakley J, Burke LM, Roach GD, Sargent C, Maniar N, Townshend A, Halson SL. The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sl...
Apr 19, 2023•52 min•Ep. 137
Having completed her PhD in the area of adolescent sleep in 2018, Dr Alex Agostini is interested in researching the associations between sleep and health in all ages. This ranges from investigating the relationships between sleep and growth in children and adolescents through to assessing whether coping mechanisms and dietary intakes are associated with shift working populations. Alex is also passionate about education, having been involved in teaching across all levels at UniSA, from foundation...
Mar 28, 2023•50 min•Ep. 135
In this episode, I talk with my new friend Dr. Anne Aulsebrook. We continue our journey on learning about birds and sleep and discuss many fascinating topics. The peculiar mating practices and attraction with sleep loss in sandpiper birds Dr. Anne Aulsebrook is a behavioral ecologist interested in activity patterns and sleep. During her PhD, she investigated the effects of urban light pollution on sleep in birds. More recently, she has become interested in the behaviour of shorebirds that breed ...
Mar 14, 2023•57 min•Ep. 134
In this episode, I talk with my friend Jonathan Charest from Calgary, Canada. Jonathan is a native of Quebec, Canada and is a crazy Ice Hockey fan. In this episode, we discuss Jonathan’s latest paper. Associations between time zone changes travel distance and performance: A retrospective analysis of 2013–2020 National Hockey League Data by Charest, Jonathan et al. published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Volume 25, Issue 12, 1008 – 1016 https://www.jsams.org/article/S1440-2440(...
Feb 27, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 133
