Padua, a partner in DataGenChrono, the international network that will study the relationship between sleep and mental health

The University of Padua is participating in DataGenChrono, an international research and PhD training network dedicated to the study of the relationships between sleep, biological rhythms and mental health.

The project, coordinated by Maynooth University (Ireland) and funded by the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks, brings together twelve academic and industrial partners in Europe and Canada and will fund the PhD pathway of eleven early-career researchers.

In the Padua group, Sara Montagnese, professor in the Department of Medicine of the University of Padua, and Rodolfo Costa, senior associate at the Institute of Neuroscience of the National Research Council (CNR), Padua branch, are involved.

The Padua project, which provides for the recruitment of one PhD student (PhD–MSCA), will develop and evaluate personalised circadian interventions for patients with liver diseases, endocrine diseases or receiving palliative care and who are particularly susceptible to disruptions in sleep, sleep-wake rhythms and mental health. Sleep-wake rhythms and exposure to light and noise will be assessed. 

The data collected will make it possible to develop personalised recommendations regarding sleep schedules, exposure to light, meals and physical activity, as well as, where appropriate, changes to the timing of therapies already underway.