Derk-Jan Dijk

Derk-Jan Dijk (born 1958 in Zwollerkerspel, Netherlands) is a researcher of sleep and circadian rhythms.[1] As of 2014 he is a Professor at the University of Surrey and the director of its Sleep Research Centre.

Education and early career

Dijk attended the Meander College in Zwolle. He obtained a BSc and MSc (Cum Laude) in Biology at the University of Groningen. He received his PhD from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Groningen in 1988, under supervision of the biologist Serge Daan, the physicist Domien Beermsa and the psychiatrist Rutger van den Hoofdakker. The focus of his research was on testing the predictions of the two-process model of sleep regulation as developed by Alexander Borbely (1982), Serge Daan. and Domien Beersma (1984) Dijk then conducted post-doctoral research at the Institute of Pharmacology at the University of Zurich with Alexander Borbely and was a Faculty Member at Harvard Medical School and an associated neuroscientist at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston MA, working closely with Charles Czeisler. Dijk returned to Europe in 1999 to take up a faculty position at the University of Surrey.

University of Surrey

Dijk created the Surrey Sleep Research Centre in 2003 and remains its Director,[2] leading a team that investigates the regulation and function of sleep and biological rhythms at many different levels of organisation, from gene expression to cognition.[3] In 2005 he became a Professor of Sleep and Physiology and was named Associate Dean (research) for the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences in 2013[4] Dijk is also the Director of Sleep-Wake Research in the University of Surrey's Clinical Research Centre

Derk-Jan Dijk is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sleep Research,[5] the official journal of the European Sleep Research Society

Research

Dijk's research focusses on the regulation and function of sleep and its interaction with the circadian timing system in humans.[6] He examines how sleep, sleep regulation and circadian rhythms change across the lifespan and how sleep and circadian rhythms are affected by environmental factors such as natural and artificial light.[7] Dijk also investigates how insufficient sleep and mistimed sleep affects brain function and performance and the patterns of gene expression.[8] He researches how individual differences in preferred timing of sleep is related to the biological clock and genetic variations.[9] Dijk serves as a consultant to the pharmaceutical and lighting industry.

Research Findings and Highlights

Honours and awards

Dijk is a Fellow of the Society of Biology.[17] Dijk's pioneering sleep-wake research was recognised with a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in April 2013[18]

Dijk's sustained and significant contribution to sleep research was recognized by the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Sleep Research Society in 2015. This award is the highest award presented by the Sleep Research Society and honors a single individual for research contributions made over an entire career.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Leon Kreitzman; Russell Foster (30 September 2011). The Rhythms Of Life: The Biological Clocks That Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing. Yale University Press. pp. 187–. ISBN 1-84765-372-3.
  2. ↑ New Scientist. New Science Publications.
  3. ↑ The New York Times Magazine. New York Times. April 1994.
  4. ↑ "Surrey sleep expert appointed new Associate Dean (Research)".
  5. ↑ Journal of Sleep Research Wiley Publications
  6. ↑ William H. Moorcroft (25 March 2013). Understanding Sleep and Dreaming. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-1-4614-6467-9.
  7. 1 2 3 Dr. Amrit Lal (16 March 2014). Understanding the Language of Silence - Sleep, Sleep Behavior and Sleep Disorders. eBookIt.com. pp. 141–. ISBN 978-1-4566-2168-1.
  8. 1 2 "Just ONE WEEK disrupted sleep and played havoc on health" The Daily Mail
  9. ↑ "First physical evidence of why you're an owl or a lark". New Scientist
  10. ↑ National Centre for Biotechnology Information
  11. ↑ Dijk, Derk-Jan; Charles A. Czeisler (May 1995). "Contribution of the Circadian Pacemaker and the Sleep Homeostat to Sleep Propensity, Sleep Structure, Electroencephalographic Slow Waves, and Sleep Spindle Activity in Humans". The Journal of Neuroscience.
  12. ↑ Dijk, Derk-Jan; Jeanne F Duffy; Eymard Riel; Theresa L Shanahan; Charles A Czeisler (19 April 1999). "Ageing and the circadian and homeostatic regulation of human sleep during forced desynchrony of rest, melatonin and temperature rhythms.". The Journal of Physiology.
  13. ↑ Dijk, Derk-Jan; Simon N. Archer; Antoine U. Viola; Vanessa Kyriakopoulou; Malcolm von Schantz (1 May 2008). "Inter-Individual Differences In Habitual Sleep Timing and Entrained Phase of Endogenous Circadian Rhythms of BMAL1, PER2 and PER3 mRNA in Human Leukocytes". Sleep Journal. 31: 608–17. PMC 2398752Freely accessible. PMID 18517031.
  14. ↑ "Polymorphism Predicts Sleep Structure and Waking Performance". Science Direct
  15. ↑ Dijk, Derk-Jan; Viola AU; James LM; Schlangen LJM (2008). "Blue-enriched white light in the workplace improves self-reported alertness, performance and sleep quality". Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. 34: 297–306. doi:10.5271/sjweh.1268.
  16. ↑ Dijk, Derk-Jan; Helen C. Thorne; Kay H. Jones; Stuart P. Peters; Simon N. Archer (2009). "Daily and Seasonal Variation in the Spectral Composition of Light Exposure in Humans". Informa Healthcare. 26: 854–866. doi:10.1080/07420520903044315.
  17. ↑ Society of Biology - List of fellows
  18. ↑ The Royal Society - Research Merit Awards

External links

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