Dr Saranea Ganesan

Saranea completed her PhD in Psychology at Monash University (Australia) in 2022. During her training years at Monash University, she was mentored by leading scientists in the field of sleep and circadian rhythms (Prof Shantha Rajaratnam, Assoc Prof Tracey Sletten, and Prof Steven Lockley). Apart from working on her PhD, which examined the impact of shift work on sleep and circadian rhythms in high-risk work environments, Saranea has also worked on multiple other studies funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Alertness, Safety, and Productivity (Australia), the National Truck Commission (Australia), the Australian Research Council, and multiple other projects funded by large multinational companies.

After completing her PhD in 2022, she worked as a research fellow for a year at the National University of Singapore's Sleep and Health Laboratory, where she worked on a study examining the impact of screen use time on young children's sleep and mental health. She has now moved to the UK to work with Prof Malcolm von Schantz and Assoc Prof Nayantara Santhi to further her training in sleep and circadian rhythms and to develop a solid skillset to be capable of leading her own line of research. Saranea is currently the lead research fellow on a Wellcome Trust-funded project titled 'Lithium's mechanism in bipolar disorder'. This project aims to examine the acute effect of lithium on visual and non-visual responses to light in healthy individuals. While focused on bringing this project to completion, Saranea is also very dedicated to mentoring staff and students whom she works with. She seeks to ensure they work in a safe, nurturing and healthy environment.

Although Saranea is deeply passionate about research focused on sleep and circadian rhythms, she is determined to use her core teachings to study different populations (both healthy and unhealthy populations) and identify ways to use these principles in a meaningful way to improve human health and performance. Saranea is also particularly interested in translational research and looks forward to building more collaborations within and outside of the UK. 

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