We are excited to announce that Basel Symposium on Sleep & Circadian Rhythm disorder is back! This year we have invited Prof. Radhika Basheer from Harvard Medical School as our keynote speakers, together with our guest speakers Prof. Aleksandar Videnovic (Massachusetts General Hospital) , Dr. Ulrich Hemmeter (Psychiatric Hospital St. Gallen), and Dr. David Elmenhorst (Forschungszentrum Jülich). Find more details about our program here on Neurex and register to join us!

Time: November 18, 2021 – online

Credits SSSSC: 3
Credits SGPP/SNG: 4 each

For the project “Retinal mechanisms underlying caffeine effects on the human circadian system”, Dr. Carolin Reichert has been awarded the Borbély-Hess Fellowship by the Swiss Society for Sleep Research, Sleep Medicine and Chronobiology (SSSSC). Together with Dr. Manuel Spitschan (University of Oxford), Carolin will investigate if caffeine changes the sensitivity to light of specific circadian photoreceptors and if it changes pupil size and thereby retinal illumination. This study advances our mechanistic understanding of how light affects human physiology and behaviour and how these effects are modified pharmacologically by caffeine intake.

In August 2021, Dr. Christine Blume has been awarded a prestigious Ambizione fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF; approx. CHF 930'000). From April 2022 on, she will be studying the effects of (natural) daylight and physical exercising (i.e., hiking) on circadian rhythms and sleep in a four-year project. The project also includes a position for a PhD candidate, which will be advertised in autumn 2021.

Photo: Universität Basel, Christian Flierl.

The current edition of the Sleep Medicine Textbook of the European Sleep Research Society ESRS can be ordered now. The authors of the chronobiology chapter are Prof. Christian Cajochen and Corrado Garbazza, MD.

Caffeine is an everyday drug which can disturb the human circadian timing system. We investigate whether this effect can be traced back to a change in the circadian processing of light-dark information. In a placebo controlled design, we specifically test if caffeine intake changes pupil size and sensitivity of intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells. For our research project we are looking for a highly motivated master student with a strong interest in biological psychology, chronobiology and/or sleep research. The master project involves recruitment of participants, data collection (mainly in the evening hours), analyses as well as interpretation of results. Please do not hesitate to contact us in case of any questions. ***Please note that no positions are available at the moment***. PIs: Carolin Reichert and Manuel Spitschan.

ADoRe study is looking for two MSc students who are interested in doing an internship or a thesis in a topic of caffeine, reinforcement learning, and adenosine-dopamine interaction. In this double-blind randomized crossover study, we will investigate 1) whether reinforcement behaviors can be augmented by acute or daily caffeine intake, and 2) if the caffeine effect on reinforcement learning is preferentially through a direct or an indirect dopaminergic pathway.

Are you interested in molecular psychology and further clinical applications? Contact ys.lin@unibas.ch for more information!

This year, for the first time, a scholarship from the Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation will go to a candidate from the UPK Basel. Corrado Garbazza, MD, research physician at the Center for Chronobiology at the UPK, will benefit from this valuable support. He will spend twelve months at the Harvard Medical School (HMS) in Boston from the end of next year. The program includes research work in various university hospitals of the HMS. After his stay in the USA, Dr. Corrado Garbazza intends to implement the expertise in sleep and circadian medicine gained during his stay at the UPK.

For the work on sleep and sleep-wake patterns during the COVID-19 'lockdown', Christine Blume has been awarded the early-career sleep science award by the German Sleep Society (DGSM). The award, which includes a prize money of EUR 6500, will be awarded during the digital 28th Yearly Congress of the DGSM taking place between 29 and 31 October 2020.

This year's SWISS OphthAWARD went to Dr. Sarah Chellappa for her publication in JAMA Ophthalmology on the effects of cataract-related lens replacement (artificial lenses) on sleep, circadian rhythm and cognitive functions in older subjects. The contribution was awarded the highest mark in the category "Highest clinical relevance" with prize money of CHF 10,000.

Currently, we offer four different Master's projects (5 places) in the field of chronobiology and sleep science at the Centre for Chronobiology (University of Basel, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel). Our research combines different disciplines so that the projects advertised are also suitable for students of different disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience and biology.

A survey conducted at the University of Basel and the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel has investigated how sleep has changed during the Covid-19 lockdown. The 435 individuals surveyed – most of whom were women – reported sleeping longer while sleep quality deteriorated. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Current Biology. For more information see the press release of the University of Basel.

The Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms (SLTBR) has launched its first Webinar Series 2020/2021 on "Non-visual effects of Light & Chronotherapeutics" the first already scheduled for Thursday, June 25. For free registration click here

The entire program you will find here