Professor Ron Grunstein AM
MBBS MD PhD FRACP
Professor Ron Grunstein has been a consultant physician in sleep disorders for over 35 years and a pioneer in improving patient care in sleep medicine in Australia and internationally. He has been funded extensively by the National Health and Medical Research Council successive NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence and Synergy Grants.
Ron currently heads the Sleep and Circadian Research Group at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research located on Macquarie University campus, and is a senior staff specialist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Conjoint Professor at the University of Sydney.
From 2007-2011, Professor Grunstein served as President of the World Sleep Federation, the roof body for sleep researchers and clinicians internationally organising successful world congresses in Cairns and Kyoto. He was awarded the Australasian Sleep Association Distinguished Achievement Award in 2010, the Kleitman Award, the premier award of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in 2011, and the Royal Prince Alfred Foundation Medal for Excellence in Medical Research in 2012. In 2014, he received the Distinguished Professor Award from the Sydney Medical School. Professor Grunstein was named Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in October 2021, and Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand in April 2022.
Professor Grunstein is the most published sleep researcher in Australia and has over 490 publications (including book chapters). His current research focuses on use of weight loss medications to treat sleep apnea, new therapies for disorders of excessive sleepiness and how sleep interacts with brain health. He has a MBBS and MD degrees from the University of Sydney and a PhD from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant services to medical research and education in the 2019 Honours list.