A/Prof Vakulin is a senior researcher at FHMRI Sleep Health where he leads the “Biomarkers and Risk Prevention” research theme. A/Prof Vakulin has a research interest and expertise investigating the impact of sleep loss and sleep disorders on daytime sleepiness, sleep neurobiology and neurobehavioral function, particularly in relation to operational performance and motor vehicle accident risk. His research focuses on biomarker discovery and validation to develop innovative ways to assess fitness to drive/work in patients with sleep disorders. More recently he has also focused on sleep health services research developing simplified models of care for sleep disorder screening, diagnosis and management in primary care setting. Particularly, he has been leading the development of innovative online sleep health decision support tools and digital sleep health solutions, utilising new sleep monitoring technologies for simplified screening, diagnosis and management of sleep disorders in the community and primary care. His research increasingly involves working closely with industry partners, including growing expertise in clinical research translation through commercialisation. He is a Board member of the Sleep Health Foundation (SHF) and the Australasian Sleep Association (ASA) and Chairs ASA Research Committee, the SHF Lived Experience Advisory Panel and the Industry Research and Collaboration Committee.

Neurobiological consequences of sleep disorders