Name: Dr Kerri Melehan

Specialty: Sleep Scientist

Country: Australia

Dr Kerri Melehan is a distinguished Australian sleep scientist, researcher and academic with over 25 years of specialised experience in sleep medicine and polysomnography. Holding a PhD in sleep medicine from the University of Sydney, Dr Melehan serves as a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine and Health and works as an accredited clinical physiologist at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. As a past president of the Australia and New Zealand Sleep Science Association, she is widely recognised across Australasia as a leading clinical authority on the physiological mechanisms of sleep architecture and circadian biology.

Dr Melehan’s clinical and academic focus centres heavily on how sleep evolves across the female lifespan, particularly during the hormonal disruptions of perimenopause and menopause. Up to 50 per cent of midlife women experience significant sleep disturbances, ranging from middle-of-the-night awakenings caused by vasomotor hot flushes to heightened risks of sleep-disordered breathing and chronic insomnia. Dr Melehan translates complex sleep lab diagnostic metrics into actionable insights, helping clinicians and patients understand the direct links between declining oestrogen, disrupted REM sleep, dampened circadian rhythms and daytime cognitive fatigue.

Beyond her hospital diagnostics and university teaching, Dr Melehan is a frequent speaker for bodies like the Australasian Menopause Society and the Sleep Health Foundation. She advocates for an evidence-based, multi-faceted approach to restoring midlife sleep health that combines medical evaluation (such as screening for obstructive sleep apnea) with targeted cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and sleep hygiene protocols. Through her engaging, research-backed guidance, Dr Melehan empowers women to dismantle sleep anxiety and rebuild restorative sleep patterns during perimenopause.

Session: Reclaim your nights

Interviewer: Holly Wainwright, Out Loud Host

Expect: A fascinating insight into the science of sleep including the importance and the different types.