Project: Sleep restriction

Training in Brussels

Training provided by Dr. Kerkhofs at the University of Brussels, Sleep Laboratory and Laboratory of Experimental Medicine (U222) CHU de Charleroi, Hôpital Vésale.

Dr Myriam Kerkhofs is director of the Sleep Laboratory and of the Sleep Research Unit at the CHU de Charleroi, Hôpital Vésale. She belongs also to the Laboratory of Experimental Medicine headed by Professor M. Vanhaeverbeek.

The scientific training provided by this group involves human sleep research and biochemical assessment of oxidative stress and of cardiovascular risk factors.

The Sleep Laboratory and the Sleep Research Unit have extensive experience on human sleep recordings and analysis, vigilance and cognitive evaluations, in healthy subjects and in patients with sleep disorders. The Sleep Research Unit is fully equipped for performing acute and chronic sleep restriction protocols. The Laboratory of Experimental Medicine is specialized in the study of cardiovascular risk factors and in several technologies involving flow cytometry, capillary electrophoresis, coagulation, fibrinolysis analysis.

Each researcher will prepare a study, research and personal development plan in collaboration with Dr M. Kerkhofs and Professor M; Vanhaeverbeek.  Progress of the studies will be evaluated on a regular basis and reported in the network meetings, as described earlier in this section.

The trainees will have the opportunity to learn how to perform and analyze sleep recordings, how to perform sleep restriction experiments, how to assess vigilance, mood and cognition by using standardized tools. They will also be trained to the several technologies applied in the Laboratory of Experimental Medicine.

The training in the laboratory consists of weekly seminars within the research group, interdisciplinary seminars, seminars at the Faculty of Sciences, at the Institute of Biology and Molecular Medicine (IBMM). In the laboratory, the students prepare presentations of relevant research articles and of their results. Experienced researchers will supervise students in practical work, analysis of data and in writing of results and scientific papers. The trainees will also participate in the general organization of the work in the laboratory. The senior researchers of the laboratory are fluent in English which is the scientific language of the laboratory.

The PhD students will be enrolled in the Doctoral School of the University of Brussels: information on these programs can be found at www.ulb.ac.be

The trainees will also have the opportunity to participate in The Belgian Sleep Medicine Course organized by the Belgian Association for the Study of Sleep.

The proportion of one experienced research and one early stage researcher is related to the capacity of the laboratory to supervise these trainees in the fields described earlier.