LAUSR

Stuart Armstrong was born in Ammanford, South Wales in the United Kingdom in 1945 and migrated to Australia in 1972. He leaves behind his wife, 2 children and many friends that remain deeply saddened by his passing. He was educated at the University of London in 1970 and took his Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology and Psychology. He took his Masters Preliminary in Psychology with First Class Honours at La Trobe University in 1973 and then read for his Doctorate that was awarded in 1979, also from La Trobe. He was a registered psychologist and a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and a founding member of the Australian Sleep Association (ASA), for which he received the President’s award in 2013. His level of professional commitment and his friendly and cooperative nature was evidenced by the professional positions he held in Australia and the collaborations he undertook abroad. He advanced rapidly in the Department of Psychology at La Trobe University as he was promoted from tutor to lecturer to Reader in less than a decade. His collaborations as a visiting senior scientist and senior research fellow included The Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, U.S.A. and the Max-Planck-Institute `für Verhaltensphysiologie in Andechs, FRG. His affiliations with Australian Institutes included The Key Centre for Woman’s Health at the University of Melbourne and the Department of Psychology at Swinburne University. After taking an early retirement from La Trobe University in 1996 he worked as chief consultant (external) to the international pharmaceutical company Servier International [France] examining the chronobiotic efficacy of Valdoxan, and to Eli Lilly [USA] looking at the chronobiotic efficacy of LY156735. He became an Honorary Professorial Fellow then Adjunct Professor at the Brain Sciences Institute at Swinburne University in Melbourne and continued with his clinical health work at the Epworth Sleep Centre and Heidelberg Repatriation hospital where he served as Director of The Sleep Disorders Clinic in the Veterans Psychiatry Unit. His ability to collaborate and cross disciplinary boundaries is reflected in the breadth of his research activities. He published 112 scientific publications and attended and/or chaired more than 150 professional meetings and presentations. While mechanisms of hunger and chronobiology and the mechanisms of circadian function were at the core of his work his contribution to understanding the biological basis of several illnesses included seasonal affective disorder (SAD), panic disorder, narcolepsy, insomnia and other sleep disorders. In his last affiliation before being severely impacted by his impending illness he played an integral role in exploring the role of the circadian system in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease at the Bronowski institute of Behavioural Neuroscience in Melbourne. Not only was he part of the first study to examine the effect of bright light therapy in models of Parkinson’s disease but he coauthored the pioneering work on the long term benefits of bright light therapy in patients with this chronically debilitating condition. Indeed, his involvement in this work continues even after his passing as two manuscripts are yet to bear his name.