Sleep in Aotearoa hits some high notes
2 July 2025
This year's Sleep in Aotearoa conference was held in Tauranga in the beautiful Bay of Plenty for the first time, and was a highlight for the sleep community in Aotearoa New Zealand.
NZ Branch President Barbara Galland and local Branch Committee member, Patryk Szulakowski, open the conference
Keynote speaker, Professor Brendon Yee, covered the future of obesity, OSA and incretins with a distinctly clinical focus. Other clinical topics covered in the program included 'How to stop the postcode lottery in OSA management pathways across New Zealand', narcolepsy management, understanding circadian challenges, and what to do if CPAP doesn't do its job.
A diverse range of home-grown research was featured as well, with Sarahmarie Kuroko taking out the prestigious New Investigator Award. This sponsored award will be sending Sarahmarie to Sleep DownUnder in Adelaide in October.
Early career award winners Shay-Ruby Wickham, Rosie Jackson and Sarahmarie Kuroko
Other award winners were announced during the two-day conference:
- Distinguished Service Award - Dr Andrew Veale
- Emerging Researcher Award - Dr Rosie Jackson
- Student Travel Awards - Shay-Ruby Wickham, Nisha Suresh and Sarahmarie Kuroko
- ANZSSA Travel Awards - Jordan Joe, Olivia Taylor, Beatrice Blanch
Thanks to the New Zealand Branch Committee for their hard work in pulling the two-day conference together, and to our sponsors and exhibitors for their support: Apex Medical, Eisai, ResMed, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, B Medical, Excellcare and Compumedics.
NZ Branch Committee and guests L-R: Rosie Gibson, Angela Campbell, Barbara Galland, Marcia Balzer (CEO), Bronwyn Sweeney,
Karyn O'Keeffe, Leigh Signal, Patryk Szulakowski, Brendon Yee (keynote speaker), Sonia Cherian, Michael Hlavac
CEO Marcia Balzer announces Sleep DownUnder 2028 is to be in Auckland
