Senior Lecturer
(+64) 4 979 3260
k.m.okeeffe@massey.ac.nz
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Dr Karyn O’Keeffe is a Senior Lecturer at the Sleep/Wake Research Centre and a physiologist with considerable clinical experience in monitoring sleep and managing sleep disorders.
Karyn has over 20 years of experience in the field of sleep. She began her career in sleep research and medicine as a Clinical Physiologist at WellSleep, University of Otago, Wellington, where she worked for 10 years and gained first-hand experience of shift work. She began to transition to the Sleep/Wake Research Centre in 2006 and has been based at the Centre full-time since 2012.
Karyn has broad research interests but is particularly passionate about (a) understanding the experience and impacts of shift work and workplace fatigue, and improving fatigue management, particularly for workers in healthcare; (b) strategies to improve sleep health; and (c) understanding the experience of sleep disorders. Her previous research mainly focused on treatment provision for sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnoea and insomnia. She has worked with government and industry groups to provide expert advice on sleep, shift work and fatigue management.
Karyn is responsible for the strategic direction of the Centre’s teaching activities. She is the Course Coordinator for Massey University's courses on sleep and circadian science, which include an undergraduate course and two postgraduate courses, and coordinates the Centre’s professional development courses, workshops and seminars. In addition, Karyn is the Course Coordinator for a university course on systems thinking and design for health and supervises postgraduate students.