Professor Robert Adams, MBBS, DM, FRACP, FRCP, FAASM

Professor of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine | Medical Director, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute – Sleep Health, Flinders University

Professor Robert Adams is a leading respiratory and sleep physician with extensive expertise in clinical care, research, and health service innovation. He is Medical Director at FHMRI – Sleep Health; leads the AISH Sleep Health Research Clinics and is Senior Consultant Physician in Respiratory, Sleep and Ventilation Services at Flinders Medical Centre. He also directs the Respiratory Clinical Trials Unit within the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network.

After completing post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School’s Channing Laboratory, Prof Adams has held senior academic roles, including Professor of Medicine at The University of Adelaide. His multidisciplinary research focuses on the impact of sleep disorders—particularly sleep apnea and insomnia—on health outcomes and on the development of innovative models of care.

Key Research Areas

• Sleep Disorders & Technology: Investigating novel diagnostic and monitoring tools for sleep apnea and insomnia to enable precision treatment.
• Shiftwork & Circadian Health: Examining health impacts of sleep disruption and interventions for shiftworkers.
• Nutrition & Sleep: Exploring how dietary patterns influence sleep health.
• Population Health: Leads major cohort studies, including the MAILES Sleep Cohort and North-West Adelaide Health Study, informing global guidelines and policy.
• Health Services Innovation: Heads the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence – National Centre for Sleep Health Services Research, trialling new primary care models for sleep disorder management.

Prof Adams has authored over 350 publications contributing to international collaborations such as the Global Burden of Disease and NCD-Risk Factor projects. He was formerly Deputy Chair of the Sleep Health Foundation, the leading consumer advocacy organisation for sleep health in Australia, (https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au). He serves on the SHF Consumer Reference Council, the Indigenous Sleep Health Working Party and Healthy Sleep in Hospitals Working Group. The later have developed a Toolkit designed for hospital staff and management who are interested in improving the sleep quality of their patients. 

Research Opportunities: Available at all levels—from undergraduate projects to PhD and post-doctoral studies—across sleep health, population health, and health services research.