Professor Kevin Morgan

  • Emeritus Professor of Psychology

Kevin Morgan graduated in psychology from the University of Ulster before completing his doctoral research into sleep, hypnotic drug use and ageing at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh. Since then he has maintained a career-long research interest in human sleep, establishing the Clinical Sleep Research Unit within the Sleep Research Centre in 2005.

Expert tips for a better night's sleep with Professor Kevin Morgan

Research Interests

  • Psychological natural history and psychological management of insomnia
  • randomised controlled trials of insomnia therapy 
  • the epidemiology of sleep
  • longitudinal studies
  • healthy ageing

Current research

  • Insomnia management in chronic disease and pain
  • the occupational impact of sleep quality
  • sleep in dementia and caregiving
  • health outcomes among people with insomnia
  • insomnia management services in NHS primary care
  • health and wellbeing in later life

Journal Activity

  • Associate Editor: Age and Ageing
  • Editorial Board Member: Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

Journal Referee

  • Regular refereree for a range of Sleep and Gerontology journals

Learned Societies and Professional Affiliations

  • Member Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS)
  • Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS)/Chartered Psychologist (AFBPS)
  • Executive member of the British Sleep Society
  • Member of the British Society of Gerontology
  • Member of the BPS (Division of Clinical Psychology) Psychologists Special Interest Group in the Elderly (PSIGE)
  • Member of the European Sleep Research Society
  • Member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Advisory Roles

  • Member of the National Advisory Committee for the ESRC/BBSRC ‘Strategic Promotion of Ageing Research’ initiative
  • Invited member: International Panel to Standardize the Assessment of Insomnia in Evaluation and Treatment Studies (University of Pittsburgh, March 2005)
  • Invited member: Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Featured publications

  • Morgan K, Dixon S, Mathers N, Thompson J, Tomeny M. Psychological treatment in the regulation of long-term hypnotic drug use. Health Technology Assessment 2004;8(8).
  • Morgan K, Thompson J, Tomeny M, Dixon S, Mathers N. Predicting longer-term outcomes following psychological treatment for hypnotic dependent chronic insomnia. J Psychosom Res 2003; 54: 21-29.
  • Morgan K. Daytime activity and risk factors for late-life insomnia. J Sleep Res 2003; 12: 231-238.
  • Dixon S, Morgan K, Mathers N, Thompson J, Tomeny M. Impact of cognitive behavior therapy on health related quality of life among adult hypnotic users with chronic insomnia. Beh Sleep Med 2006; 4: 71-84.
  • Morgan K. New theories for older problems. Beh Sleep Med 2006; 211-213.
  • Lee D, Morgan K, Lindesay J. Impact of institutional respite care on the sleep of people with dementia and their primary caregivers. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2007; 55: 252-258.