Lack, Leon

I have conducted research since 1982 in the areas of circadian rhythms, sleep, bright light therapy, insomnia, and treatments of insomnia. I have received many national competitive research grants in these areas and published over 140 articles and chapters in these areas. In addition I have been able to carry a substantial teaching load in all years in the Psychology degree program including teaching in the areas of biological psychology, sleep, and treatment of insomnia to undergraduates and post graduates in the clinical program. This has involved considerable supervision or research projects for 4th year honours students, masters students, and PhD students.

Over the last 35 years I have had extensive community engagement, providing workshops to health professionals in the treatment of insomnia, talks to lay groups about sleep, circadian rhythms, and insomnia, and media presentations in these areas.

Since 1992 I have been the director of the Insomnia Treatment Program at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, a multidisciplinary sleep disorders clinic and clinical research institute attached to Flinders University of South Australia and the Flinders Medical Center. The program includes a sleep recording of polysomnography in the patient's home, an education session, and several face-to-face or telehealth consultations including a 3-month follow up. We use non-drug therapies or what is generally referred to as cognitive/behavior therapy for insomnia (CBTi). We employ other evidenced based tools where appropriate such as bright light therapy and recommendations of low dose melatonin for the treatment of circadian rhythm disorders or insomnias with a likely circadian component.

Our research group has pioneered a few areas of insomnia treatment including: the use of blue/green light for re-timing the body clock and treatment of delayed sleep/wake phase disorder; the development of a brief, one-night treatment of sleep onset insomnia called Intensive Sleep Retraining; the confirmation of benefits of a brief nap (power nap) for improving alertness quickly; the dual treatment of insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea for the severe combination of co-morbid insomnia and sleep apnea; and the addition of elements of cognitive therapy to enhance effectiveness of CBTi.