I’m Forrest, a postdoctoral researcher in sleep medicine at the Experimental and Clinical Sleep Medicine group, part of the Sir Jules Thorn Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford.

I’ve always been one of those people who naturally leans toward late nights, which is probably what first got me curious about how and why our sleep patterns differ. That curiosity turned into a research focus on adolescents with evening chronotypes - young people who, like me, tend to feel most awake at night.

This site is a space to share what I’m working on and connect with others interested in sleep, circadian rhythms, and mental health. Have a look through and feel free to reach out if something resonates.

Like many people, my first real encounter with academic research was during my undergraduate dissertation. I joined the Psychosis Lab, where I worked on a project looking at how working memory is affected in people with psychosis proneness.

After graduating, I applied to a few research assistant jobs and eventually took on a role as a project manager at the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). I worked on projects exploring protective factors against suicide, as well as analyzing the content of suicide notes. It was important work, but not the happiest job in the world — so after about a year and a half, I decided to step away.

I spent some time abroad, enjoying life, and thinking seriously about what I wanted to do next. In early 2018, I applied for a PhD and joined the Sleep Research Clinic and Laboratory at HKU, under the guidance of Prof. Shirley Li. I was also lucky to collaborate with the Li Chiu Kong Family Sleep Assessment Unit at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

My doctoral work focused on how circadian rhythms contribute to insomnia in adolescents and explored bright light therapy as a treatment for delayed sleep phase. During this time, I became increasingly interested in how misaligned body clocks affect not just sleep, but also diet, functioning, and overall health — which brings me to my current work!

If you’d like to chat about sleep research or collaboration, feel free to reach out: 📧 contact@forrestcheung.com