Megan Crawford Ph.D.

As many others in this field, Megan Crawford, Ph.D., got into sleep research by mere coincidence.

Back in 2006, she was an undergraduate at Surrey University in the UK, and a requirement of the course was to complete a work placement. She really wanted a placement in a group researching autism. Unsuccessful with her first interview, she decided to apply for other research positions and fine-tune her interview skills. One of these was with Professor Alice Gregory at Goldsmiths, University of London, on the relationship between sleep problems, anxiety, and depression in children. During the interview, Megan realized how fascinating sleep research was. She got the position and never looked back.

After spending a few years in Swansea (Wales), Sydney (New South Wales), and Chicago (no relation to any Wales at all), Megan is now based in Glasgow at the University of Strathclyde. Her current research is focused on how to optimize treatments for sleep disorders (including insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy), with a particular focus on treatment adherence.

She finds sleep fascinating, not just because she loves doing it herself, but because people can relate to the research she does, and it also has an impact on people’s health (both physical and mental). Writing a blog for Psychology Today, she hopes she will be able to reach many people and give them a glimpse of the hot new topics in sleep research.