Andrew Phillips

A/Prof. Andrew Phillips is a Matthew Flinders Fellow and ARC Future Fellow at Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (Sleep Health), where he is Director of Circadian Health. His research program focusses on the causes and consequences of circadian disruption — the disturbance of our body's 24-hour rhythms by modern environments and work schedules.

His three primary areas of research are:

1. Sleep regularity and health: A/Prof. Phillips' research has identified the importance of regular sleep patterns to human health. Surprisingly, sleep regularity turns out to be a stronger predictor of health than sleep duration. Using the Sleep Regularity Index (SRI) metric that A/Prof. Phillips developed, we are now investigating the mechanisms by which irregular sleep impacts health, strategies to maintain regular sleep patterns, and understanding the importance of sleep regularity in the context of shiftwork.
2. Our light environment: Light is the most important environmental time cue for human circadian rhythms. Modern environments and technologies have fundamentally altered how and when we are exposed to light, leading to confusing time signals. A/Prof. Phillips' research has revealed that there are extraordinary differences between individuals in how responsive the circadian system is to typical indoor light levels (a range of light intensities that would have been very uncommon in our evolutionary history). He has also developed novel technologies to track daily light exposure patterns (including a spin-out company), and works closely with Australian lighting industry partners to build circadian-informed lighting. Our current research is focussed on understanding how our light exposure patterns and our light environments influence sleep and health.
3. Computational modelling of circadian rhythms: A/Prof. Phillips developed what is now a standard computational model of human sleep and circadian rhythms (the Phillips-Robinson model). This predictive model enables mechanistic insights into individual differences in sleep and circadian rhythms. It is also used for prediction of circadian timing, sleep, and performance in a wide range of contexts, including shiftwork. His current work is focussed on individualising models to account for individual differences in sleep and circadian physiology, enabling more accurate predictions.

A/Prof. Phillips' research group is currently accepting PhD and Honours students.