Our Speakers

Professor Paul Gringras is a Consultant Paediatrician specialising in Sleep Medicine at Evelina London Hospital, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. He also practises privately at Wimpole Street Consulting Rooms and the Giaroli Centre.

After completing a fellowship in Paediatric Sleep Medicine in Chicago under Professor Stephen Sheldon in 2003, he established the Children’s Sleep Disorders Department at Evelina and served as Clinical Lead for more than 15 years. Under his leadership, the service grew into one of Europe’s largest paediatric sleep centres, providing specialist care for children and young people with sleep disorders, including those with neurodevelopmental and neurodisability conditions such as autism and ADHD.

Paul is Professor of Sleep Medicine at King’s College London. His research interests include normal sleep patterns in children, the impact of poor sleep on learning and development, sleep disorders in autism and ADHD, treatment approaches and the use of artificial intelligence in sleep diagnostics. He currently serves as President of the International Paediatric Sleep Association (IPSA) and is a Board Member of the World Sleep Society.

Alongside his clinical and academic work, he is committed to public engagement and science communication. He has contributed to scientific reviews, book chapters, and media articles, and has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, The Daily Mail, and The Sun, as well as on BBC Radio 4 and Channel 4’s Bedtime Live. He has also developed sleep-related apps and regularly works with schools, families, and professional organisations to promote sleep health.

Dr Lizzie Hill is a Clinical Scientist with over 20 years’ experience of working with adults and children with sleep disorders in clinical and research settings in Scotland. Lizzie gained her PhD by Research at The University of Edinburgh in 2016, exploring prevalence and treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea in adults with Down syndrome.

A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, she has been a full-time educator since 2020 and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Sleep Physiology at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), where she leads the PGCert Sleep Medicine programme, commissioned and funded by NHS England to address the skills gaps in clinical sleep services

(https://courses.uwe.ac.uk/C9P100/sleep-medicine).

She is a Society Rep for The Physiological Society, Past President of the European Society of Sleep Technologists, and previously served as the Education Lead for the British Sleep Society.

Dr. Ellis is a Professor of Sleep Science and Director of the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research in the United Kingdom. He is a qualified Somnologist – Expert in Behavioural Sleep Medicine from the European Sleep Research Society and a Practicing Psychologist under the HCPC.

He splits his time between his basic research interests: the pathophysiology of sleep health and sleep disorders (Insomnia, Restless Legs Syndrome, and Circadian Rhythm Disorders) and his applied work on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). Within the former framework he examines the impact of novel non-pharmacological (e.g. functional foods, nutraceuticals, phytotherapies) and psychotherapies on sleep health outcomes. 

Jason has worked within the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, delivering CBT-I to individuals with a range of physical and psychological conditions and serves on the editorial boards of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Frontiers in Sleep, Advances in Sleep, and Sleep Health. He is a serious advocate of public engagement and professional education and regularly provides workshops on sleep, sleep disorders and fatigue management to clinicians and primary care physicians in the United Kingdom and internationally.

Leading the South Yorkshire Innovation Hub, Gemma is responsible for advising and guiding the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and its partners as well as place partnerships on development, adoption and spread of research and innovation across South Yorkshire. 

Previously, Gemma was with NHS Confederation for 12 years, leading national programmes on inclusive recruitment, retention, community engagement and staff experience. Working on commissions from the Ministry of Defence, Health Education England, NHS England and NHS Improvement plus the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Gemma rolled out an Armed Forces recruitment programme, ‘Step into Health’, to over 100 NHS organisations across England and Wales. The programme helped over 1000 members of the Armed Forces community find sustainable employment within the NHS leading to Gemma representing ‘Step into Health’ at the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The academic world did not suit Gemma’s goals therefore her career began in childcare and developed through roles within the Department of Work and Pensions plus third sector organisations.

Dr Maja Schaedel is the lead clinical psychologist in the Sleep Disorder Centre at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital in London and co-founder and director of The Good Sleep Clinic, which offers psychological therapy to people with sleep difficulties.

Her previous roles include Principal Clinical Psychologist at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and Head of Psychological Therapies for the Queen Victoria NHS Hospital Trust and Sleep Disorder Centre.

Maja works with children and adults and has a special interest in women’s sleep, narcolepsy, parasomnias and trauma-based sleep difficulties. She specialises in CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) for trauma.

She is accredited by the HCPC and the British Psychological Society and she teaches on university doctoral training programmes and supervises clinical psychologists and research trainees.