\u201cMichael Adamson had a passion for sleep and neonatal care when very few people took it seriously. His belief in the field helped us lay the foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Origins in SIDS research <\/p>\n
The early research focus was on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)<\/a>, driven in part by the work of Professor Rosemary Horne.<\/a> Her PhD in the 1980s explored whether fluctuations in blood pressure could trigger arousal from sleep, a key factor in understanding SIDS.<\/p>\n \u201cEven back then, it was well-understood that SIDS happened during sleep,\u201d she says. \u201cOur work showed that babies sleeping on their tummies, the biggest risk factor for SIDS, had impaired arousal responses and reduced control of heart rate and blood pressure. It\u2019s important for parents to understand why they are recommended to sleep their babies on their backs.\u201d<\/p>\n Their team explored how prone sleeping, preterm birth, and maternal smoking impacted infant physiology. These physiological findings helped explain the epidemiological links between sleep position and SIDS risk, contributing to national and international infant safe sleep guidelines.<\/p>\n But their efforts went beyond discovery. \u201cWe were doing bench-to-bedside before it was a buzzword,\u201d says Professor Horne. \u201cWe built a research bed out of a cupboard and a corridor. Everything we discovered was channelled into improving practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Building a statewide service <\/p>\n Clinical demand soon followed. Parents and paediatricians began referring children with sleep concerns, from snoring to more complex respiratory and sleep conditions. But sleep medicine still wasn\u2019t recognised as a specialty, and support was minimal.<\/p>\n \u201cI was paid for one hour a week when I started in 1994,\u201d says Associate Professor Davey. \u201cWe had a tiny team, bulky analogue equipment, and no digital monitors,\u00a0so we literally ran studies in the dark. The setup relied on paper recordings and staff keeping watch overnight with minimal lighting to avoid interference. We relied on several of Professor Adamson\u2019s family friends via donations to pay off our equipment debt.\u201d<\/p>\n By 2001, the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at Monash Medical Centre officially took over the lab, expanding its infrastructure. It grew from one to six beds, supported by research staff, and became a statewide clinical service for children with sleep disorders over the next two decades.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a gradual, determined evolution,\u201d says Professor Horne. \u201cAnd it was only possible with visionary leadership from people like Professor Nick Freezer<\/a> and Professor Adrian Walker, who gave us the space, the support, and the encouragement to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n From research room to global impact <\/p>\n The team began to secure competitive funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council<\/a>\u00a0(NHMRC), starting with studies into obstructive sleep apnoea and its effects on cardiovascular and neurocognitive development. Associate Professor Gillian Nixon<\/a> joined in 2006, helping to build new research pathways and integrate ear, nose and throat (ENT) and respiratory care.<\/p>\n \u201cA major goal has been simplifying and scaling diagnostic testing,\u201d she says. \u201cWe pioneered overnight oximetry to measure oxygen saturation in blood and initiating CPAP or continuous positive airway pressure for treatment of sleep apnoea in a child’s own home, which has since become standard practice. We treat many more complex patients now, including those reliant on ventilation.\u201d<\/p>\n The team also established a research database in 2004. Now, with more than 18,000 sleep studies, it captures high-frequency physiological signals alongside detailed clinical and demographic data. Parents provide informed consent for their child\u2019s data to be used for research.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the only paediatric sleep lab in the world that we know of with this kind of infrastructure,\u201d says Professor Horne. \u201cWe\u2019ve measured everything from heart rate variability to cerebral oxygenation. And because of this database, we can study things that couldn\u2019t be done clinically.\u201d<\/p>\n Home testing and new horizons <\/p>\n Today, the Monash paediatrics sleep team is leading the charge into home-based diagnostics. Their current MRFF-funded project is testing how existing devices can safely and accurately assess children outside the hospital environment, with the goal of earlier diagnosis and intervention.<\/p>\n \u201cChildren who snore often go untreated, and yet the consequences can accumulate as they grow,\u201d says Associate Professor Nixon. \u201cWe\u2019re now seeing evidence that treating preschool children with sleep-disordered breathing can improve not just behaviour, but long-term cardiovascular health.\u201d<\/p>\n The team is also exploring the broader relationship between sleep, screen time, and mental health through new collaborations with psychology researchers.<\/p>\n \u201cSleep doesn\u2019t just sit in the medical box,\u201d says Associate Professor Davey. \u201cIt cuts across developmental, psychological, and behavioural domains. It\u2019s integral to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n A culture of collaboration and curiosity <\/p>\n One of the program\u2019s greatest strengths is its blend of scientific rigour and clinical compassion. Professor Horne and Associate Professor Davey have long championed cross-disciplinary training, nurturing a team where PhDs are the norm, not the exception.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of our staff started with honours or PhDs and stayed in the clinical program as sleep scientists,\u201d says Professor Horne. \u201cThey may not want academic careers, but they\u2019re passionate about sleep and contribute deeply to our research.\u201d<\/p>\n This culture has shaped new leaders, including their newest consultant, Dr Lauren Nisbet<\/a>, who completed a combined Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery\/PhD under Horne and has now circled back as a clinician-scientist with a part-time research fellowship funded by Monash Partners and Equity Trustees<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s come full circle,\u201d says Associate Professor Davey. \u201cWe\u2019re training a new kind of professional \u2013\u00a0people who value sleep science and clinical care equally.\u201d<\/p>\n Where to next? <\/p>\n With new trials underway, a unique data resource\u00a0and growing awareness of sleep as a critical health pillar, the future of paediatric sleep medicine at Monash is bright.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no longer a fringe field,\u201d says Associate Professor Davey. \u201cThe American Heart Association has named sleep as a new cardiovascular health metric. We\u2019ve come a long way from being \u2018the crying baby department\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Their next questions focus on identifying critical windows for intervention, expanding access through home testing, and better understanding the role of sleep in mental health.<\/p>\n \u201cSleep is not a luxury,\u201d says Professor Horne. \u201cIt\u2019s essential. And we want every child to get the best chance at healthy development, starting with a good night\u2019s rest.\u201d<\/p>\n This article is part of the \u201c60 Years of Impact\u201d series celebrating the Department of Paediatrics at Monash University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a single, makeshift room at the Monash Medical Centre in 1987, a movement began. Under the guidance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,116746,116740,116747,137,107686,47830,116739,116742,116741,116745,116743,116744],"class_list":["post-182044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-childrens-sleep-health","tag-childrens-sleep-study","tag-faculty-medicine-nursing-and-health-science","tag-health","tag-monash-lens","tag-monash-university","tag-paediatric-sleep-medicine","tag-paediatric-sleep-research","tag-sids","tag-sleep-disorder-diagnosis","tag-sleep-disorders-in-children","tag-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SXXgnMtzfluTXHO6RSkZ.jpg\")
Sleep studies at Melbourne Children\u2019s Sleep Centre have evolved from bulky 16-channel analogue paper recordings, which required staff to observe children in low light to avoid interference, to today\u2019s compact digital systems with up to 60 channels, infrared video, and real-time monitoring. Image: Supplied <\/p>\n