Professor Rosemary Horne, Research group head for Infant and Child Health at Hudson Institute

Professor Rosemary Horne AM, NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Senior Principal Research Fellow

  • Role: Honorary Fellow

Professor Rosemary Horne’s research interests focus on sleep in infants and children and current research projects are investigating mechanisms involved in the Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI), development of cardio-respiratory control in preterm infants and the effects of sleep disordered breathing on daytime performance and the cardiovascular system in typically developing children and children with chronic conditions. She has received funding from the NHMRC, the Heart Foundation and both national and international SUDI organisations to support her research. Professor Horne’s findings have had clinical impact, with her study outcomes changing treatment approaches for sleep-disordered breathing in children, as well as advice provided to parents to reduce their baby’s risk of SUDI.

Professor Horne has an international reputation in her field and is the Chair of the Physiology working group of the International Society for the Prevention of Infant Death. She is a Director of the International Pediatric Sleep Association and is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Sleep Research, Sleep, and Sleep Medicine.

She has published more than 200 research and review scientific articles and has been an invited speaker at a number of national and international sleep and SUDI research conferences. She has supervised 20 PhD students and 50 honours and masters students to completion.

Selected publications

  • Siriwardhana LS, Weichard A, Nixon GM,  Davey MI, Walter LM, Edwards BA, Horne RSC. The Role of Ventilatory Control Instability in Children with Sleep Disordered Breathing. (2020)  Respirology 2020  Apr 2. doi: 10.1111/resp.13809.

  • Jamieson K, Soh HJ Davey MJ, Rimmer J, Horne RSC, Nixon GM. Continuous oximetry recordings on the first post-operative night after pediatric adenotonsillectomy-a case-control study. (2020) International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology Aug 15;138:110313. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2020.110313.

  • Horne RSC, Sakthiakumaran A, Bassam A, Thacker J, Walter LM, Davey MJ, Nixon GM. (2020) Children with Down syndrome and sleep disordered breathing have altered cardiovascular control. Pediatric Research 2020 Nov 23. doi: 10.1038/s41390-020-01285-6.

  • Shepherd K, Wong FY, Odoi A, Brew N, Yeomans E, Willis S, Horne RSC, Yiallourou SR. (2020) Prone sleeping affects cardiovascular control in preterm infants in NICU. Pediatric Research 2020 Nov 10. doi: 10.1038/s41390-020-01254-z.

  • Siriwardhana LS, Nixon GM,  Davey MJ, Landry SA, Edwards BA*, Horne RSC*. (2020) Children with Down syndrome and sleep disordered breathing display impairments in ventilatory control. Sleep Medicine Dec 8;77:161-169. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2020.12.005.

  • Siriwardhana LS, Nixon GM, Horne RSC, Edwards BA.(2020) Journey towards a personalised medicine approach for OSA:  Can a similar approach to adult OSA be applied to paediatric OSA? Paediatric Respiratory Reviews Feb 14:S1526-0542(20)30018-X. doi: 10.1016/j.prrv.2020.01.002.

  • Horne RSC (2020) Consequences of sleep disordered breathing in children: Australian and New Zealand research. Sleep Medicine Dec 5;77:147-160. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2020.11.030.

  • Tran AHL, Horne RSC, Rimmer J, Nixon GM. (2020) Surgical treatment of paediatric sleep disordered breathing in Australia and New Zealand. Sleep Medicine Dec 17;78:101-107. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2020.12.010.

  • Harman K, Weichard A, Davey MJ, Horne RSC, Nixon GM, Edwards BA. (2020) Assessing ventilatory control stability in children with and without an elevated central apnea index. Respirology 25(2):214-220, 2020.

  • Shepherd K, Yiallourou SR, Odoi A, Brew N, Yeomans E, Willis S, Horne RSC, Wong FY (2019). Effects of Prone Sleeping on Cerebral Oxygenation in Preterm Infants. J Pediatrics 204:103-110.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.08.076. 2019.

  • Walter LM, Tamanyan K, Weichard A, Davey MJ, Nixon GM, Horne RSC (2019). Sleep disordered breathing in children disrupts the normal maturation of autonomic control of heart rate and its association with cerebral oxygenation. J Physiol. 597(3):819-830, 2019.

  • Thomas B, Thillainathan K, Delahunty M, Weichard A, Davey MJ, Nixon GM, Walter LM, Horne RSC (2019). Cardiovascular Autonomic Control Is Altered in Children Born Preterm with Sleep Disordered Breathing. J Pediatr. 206:83-90, 2019.

  • Tamanyan K, Walter LM, Weichard A, Davey MJ Nixon GM, Biggs SN, Horne RSC (2019). The impact of central and obstructive respiratory events on cerebral oxygenation in children with sleep disordered breathing. Sleep  42(5). pii: zsz044. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsz044, 2019.

  • Walter LM, Tamanyan K, Weichard A, Davey MJ, Nixon GM, Biggs SN, Horne RSC (2019). Age and autonomic control, but not cerebral oxygenation, are significant determinants of EEG spectral power in children. Sleep. 2019 Jun 10. pii: zsz118. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsz118.

  • Walter LM, Tamanyan K, Nisbet LC, Davey MJ, Nixon GM, Horne RSC (2019). Pollen levels on the day of polysomnography influence the severity of sleep disordered breathing in children with allergic rhinitis. Sleep Breath. 2019 Mar 5. doi: 10.1007/s11325-019-01819-1.

  • Chan M, Wong TCH, Weichard A, Walter LM,  Nixon GM, Horne RSC (2019). Sleep macro-architecture and micro-architecture in children born preterm with sleep disordered breathing. Pediatric Research 2019 Jun 13. doi: 10.1038/s41390-019-0453-1.

  • Sutherland K, Weichard AJ, Davey MJ,  Horne RSC, Cistulli PA,  Nixon GM (2019). Facial photography for assessment of craniofacial risk of sleep-disordered breathing in children. Sleep and Breathing 2019 Aug 30. doi: 10.1007/s11325-019-01928-x.

  • Tran A, Horne RSC, Liew D, Rimmer J, Nixon GN (2019). Pediatric adenotonsillectomy and inter-hospital transfers in Victoria, Australia, 2010-2015. Clinical Otolaryngology 2019 Sep 20. doi: 10.1111/coa.13436.

  • Shepherd K, Yiallourou SR, Odoi A, Brew N, Yeomans E, Willis S, Horne RSC, Wong FY. (2019) When does prone sleeping improve cardiorespiratory status in preterm infants in the NICU? Sleep 2019 Nov 6. pii: zsz256. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsz256.

  • Horne RSC, Ong C, Weichard A, Nixon GM, Davey MJ (2019). Are there gender differences in the severity and consequences of sleep disordered breathing in children? Sleep Medicine 67:147-155, 2019.

  • Horne RSC (2019). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Invited Review. Intern Med J. 2019 Apr;49(4):433-438. doi: 10.1111/imj.14248.

  • Walter LM, Shepherd K, Yee A, Horne RSC (2019). Insights into the effects of sleep disordered breathing on the brain in infants and children: imaging and cerebral oxygenation measurements. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2019 Dec 16;50:101251. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2019.101251.