Professor Russell Foster

Positions

Supernumerary Fellow in Circadian Neuroscience, Brasenose College
Professor of Circadian Neuroscience
Director, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute
Head, Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology

Research Interests

My research address how circadian rhythms and sleep are generated and regulated and what happens when these systems fail as a result of societal pressures and/or disease. A key finding was the discovery and characterization of an unrecognized light-detecting system within the eye that regulates circadian rhythms and sleep, and most recently, the translation of this work to the clinic. I was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 2008, the Royal Society of Biology in 2011 and the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2013. In 2015 I received the Order of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Science. I have recently served as a member of the Governing Council of the Royal Society and I established and led for six years the Royal Society Public Engagement Committee. I was the Chair of the Cheltenham Science Festival for six years and am currently a Trustee of the Science Museum Group. Based upon our research, we have established a spin-out company called Circadian Therapeutics. I have been honoured to receive multiple national and international awards, including most recently the “Daylight Award” https://thedaylightaward.com/laureates/russell-foster/

Publications My team has published over 290 scientific papers and I have co-written four popular science books, and my fifth for Penguin entitled Life Time was published in May 2022. I am currently working on two further books.

Contact Details

Professor Russell Foster CBE, FRSB, FMedSci, FRS
Director, Sleep & Circadian Neuroscience Institute (SCNi)
Head, Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building

University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford  OX1 3QU
E-mail: [email protected]
 
PA: Ms Toria Summers
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)1865 618 661