Light, Clocks and Sleep: Basic Science to Clinical Application
Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, Head of Department of Ophthalmology and Director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow at Brasenose College, and has been elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society and The Academy of Medical Sciences. His research spans the neurosciences, but has focused upon how 24h circadian rhythms and sleep are generated and regulated by light. He discovered that the eye has a 3rd class of photoreceptor for the regulation of biological time, quite separate from the rods and cones that give us our sense of vision. This work has transformed our understanding of how the eye detects light and redefined the clinical diagnosis of blindness. Russell is active in taking fundamental discoveries from the laboratory into clinical practice, and most recently has developed new approaches to understand and treat the pervasive problem of sleep and circadian rhythm disruption in psychiatric illness. He is currently the President of the British Neuroscience Association, Chair of the Cheltenham Science Festival, and he Chairs the Public Engagement Committee at the Royal Society. He was awarded a CBE in the New Years’ Honours List.
Sofia Science Festival
16 May, 20.00 | Main Stage | ticketed