Sleep medicine, art and literature – Ars longa, vita brevis

Meir Kryger M.D. has authored over 100 papers, book chapters and books, including one of the most influential sleep medicine textbooks "Principles and practices of sleep medicine".

His research was the first to show the feasibility of using noninvasive techniques to ventilate people with post-polio syndrome in their homes. His laboratory elucidated the interaction between heart failure and sleep respiration, publishing the first systematic study of oxygen in this condition.

Kryger reported the first use of computers in analysing sleep breathing patterns and validated techniques of monitoring in which diagnostic data, as well as therapeutic data on CPAP, is obtained during the same night. He is also a passionate art lover and has explored the depiction of sleep within the great works of art through the centuries and is uniquely placed to understand the interaction between sleep and art.

Salley's books explore themes of love and loss, often dovetailing past and present. She brings an understanding of human psychology and psychological interventions to many of her novels, giving her the perfect platform to explore the power of dreams throughout literature. Before writing, she trained as a psychoanalyst and worked within the NHS.

Milton Mermikedis works within the University of Surrey.

'Sound Asleep' is a collaboration between Mermikides and sleep scientists Professor Debra Skene (University of Surrey), Professor Vladyslav Vyazovskiy (University of Oxford), Professor of Computing Paul Krause (University of Surrey) alongside video, audio and computer programmers. The project is developing techniques that allow the systematic translation of sleep data into musical compositions. Sound Asleep aims of the project are to reveal the nature of sleep and the hidden lives that we all share. Through the translation of data into sound, such phenomena as the disruption of sleep in the visually impaired, sleep apnoea and the transitions in brainwave activity between sleep states are captured and translated.

He was diagnosed with narcolepsy at the age of 21 and his most recent book Sleepyhead successfully brought the patient perspective of narcolepsy and sleep to the wider public. He has regularly appeared at a wide range of venues, including the British Library, the Royal Institution, the Edinburgh Science Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe and a sellout appearance at the world-famous Hay Festival in 2014. He will be exploring the role of film and it's portrayal of sleep and dreaming and applications to modern sleep science.