Amelia Noone

Amelia Noone is a PhD candidate from the Paediatric Sleep Disorders Research Group at the Robinson Research Institute. She is supervised by Dr Anna Kontos, A/Prof Michael Stark and Dr Tara Crawford. Her research focuses on endocrine and vascular changes in children with sleep disordered breathing (SDB).

She is particularly interested in investigating the effects SDB has on the developing child. Approximately 10% of all children are on the SDB spectrum, however 90% are never diagnosed and therefore never treated. Given that SDB occurs on most nights over many years before diagnosis and treatment, it is proposed these events lead to the remodeling of vascular and neuronal structures. In adults, SDB is an independent risk factor for systemic hypertension, is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation and can co-exist with endocrine disorders. This suggests that untreated SDB has a global effect on physiology. What is less recognised is that evidence of similar patterns are emerging from research in children with SDB. Amelia's research will look at endocrine and vascular changes in children with SDB and whether treatment can reduce or reverse these dysfunctions.