Kathleen qualified as a general and paediatric nurse in 1979 having completed the integrated course at Great Ormond Street and Middlesex (Mortimer Street) Hospitals, London. She then spent some time in cardiothoracic theatre before undertaking the cardiothoracic course at the Brompton (now Royal Brompton) Hospital, Chelsea. She returned to Great Ormond Street for 4 years where she was cardiothoracic nursing tutor and general paediatric tutor at the Charles West School of Nursing. This involved not only lecturing but ongoing supervision and clinical evaluation of care for the nurses all over the London area and in a wide variety of clinical settings. François Duforez (1959) is a French doctor who works as a consultant at the renowned department of physiology and sleep research of the Hôtel Dieu hospital in Paris. He was director of the department in 2005 and 2006, and today remains actively involved in the sleep research centre. Duforez’s career has seen him as the founding father of a number of important institutes. In 1989 he initiated ‘Vielife’ with the support of the pharmaceutical group Aventis. Vielife carries out research on the impact of extreme sports performance on the human body. For over 20 years, Duforez has undertaken several biomedical research projects in the world of Formula 1 and competitive sailing. In that same period, he was the leading doctor for the French team’s preparations for the Olympic games. And between 1988 and 2005, Duforez was also medical director of several Formula 1 teams such as Larrousse, Ligier, Ferrari, Prost GP and Jordan GP. The Belgian Dr. Raymond Cluydts (°1951) is a prominent researcher in the field of fundamental sleep research. Cluydts is leading the Centre of Experimental Sleep Research at the Brussels university (VUB), he is co-founder of the Centre for Clinical Sleep Research at the University in Antwerp and he teaches biological psychology at the VUB university in Brussels. Cluydts is specialized in fundamental research on healthy people and epidemiological investigation of sleep disorders. He is a prominent researcher on the effect of sleep deprivation. In this domain he is frequently asked by the car and the pharmaceutical industry. As on of the finding fathers of the Belgian Association of Study of Sleep (BASS), he is convinced that there is a mutual interest in co-operating with the bedding industry. He recently co-initiated a research project with the Slaapraad, a Belgian marketing brand, founded by retailers and manufacturers of bedding products, but is open to any initiative from the bedding branch. Jürgen Zulley, the ‘pope of sleep’ in Germany Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zulley is the authority when it comes to sleep research and sleep improvement in Germany. Zulley is head of a Sleep school in Regensburg, an institute that teaches private people how to improve the quality of their sleep. Often sollicitated as a spokesman of sleep in German talkshows, radio programs and lectures, Dr. Zulley is called ‘the pope of sleep’ in his country. The German sleep specialist wrote 11 books. The latest one ‘Mein buch vom guten Schlaf’ is a bestseller. Together with 3 other authorities in the field of sleep research, Zulley is nominated by the European Bedding Industry Association and might be granted with an award for his work. However, it would not be his first one: in 2000 he received the W.H. Hess-Prize in sleep research. In 2002 Zulley received the Bayerischen Staatspreis fur Innovation for founding his Sleep School. In 2005 he was named Sleep doctor of the year by ‘the Schlafmagazin’. Damien Léger, leading the sleep department of Hôtel-Dieu (Paris) In France Dr. Damien Léger is the authority when it comes to sleep science and sleep disorders. Léger trained as a neurophysiologist and is currently leading the Sleep and Vigilance Centre of Hôtel-Dieu in Paris. Léger and his team are specialized in problems of insomnia or hypersomnia and they are doing a lot of epidemiological research. The Sleep and Vigilance Centre of Hôtel-Dieu also screens the relation between sleep and environment. The influences of noise, light, temperature, and bedding on sleep are inventoried carefully by Dr. Léger and his team. Léger also studies the relation between sleep and work. It is obvious that well rested people perform better, but what to do with people who suffer insomnia. And how is the sleep quality of people who regularly work night shifts? Damien Léger knows all about it. Born in Barcelona April 2, 1948, Eduard Estivill, PhD, specialist in pediatrics, neurophysiology, and sleep medicine is at present director of the Sleep Clinic at the USP Institut Dexeus, Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Estivill received his medical degree from the University of Barcelona. He underwent postgraduate training in sleep medicine al the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders Unit in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Estivill was previously a consultant physician in the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory at the Santa Creu y Sant Pau Hospital, Barcelona, and has worked at the center for Biological Research into Fetal and Neonatal Development, Port-Royal, Paris, and the Sleep Disorders Center of the Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit. He is Honorary Professor of the National University of Santa Fé, Bogotá. Doctor A.ML Coenen is a professor at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, where he’s teaching biological psychology. After completing his doctorate in biology, he specialised in anaesthetics and undertook extensive medical research of animals. Eventually his focus shifted to humans, and in observing different sleep phases he has tried to uncover the relationship between sleep and memory tracing. Also for the bedding industry, I’m becoming a regular. It started in the Netherlands, where I was asked by a cushion manufacturer. More recently, mattress manufacturers and the national bedding federation approached me. I was happily surprised when I was told that the European Bedding Industry Association (EBIA) was going to nominate me,’ explains Coenen. Kathleen McGrath - Winner of the 2013 EBIA Award
Doctor François Duforez - Named Winner of the 2012 EBIA Award
Belgian Professor Raymond Cluydts Winner of the 2011 EBIA Award
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zulley announced winner of the 2010 EBIA Award
Damien Léger announced winner of the 2009 EBIA Award
Dr. Estivill announced winner of the 2008 EBIA Award
Anton Coenen announced winner of the 2007 EBIA Award
Anton Coenen: most wanted sleep specialist in The Netherlands
We all know the effect of a bad night’s sleep: we’re moody, irritable, more sensitive and it’s so much harder to concentrate. The importance of sleep is still underestimated, but people are becoming increasingly aware of its significance. That’s why Anton Coenen is frequently in demand as a lecturer on sleeping matters by all kind of institutes. ‘Once they find you, it works like a snowball, but I like to do this, it is interesting for me to look over the walls of the academic world.