Faculty Members

Professor Cathy Hill established Southampton Sleep Training, in 2012. She is a Professor of Paediatric Sleep Medicine at the University of Southampton and has published over 75 peer reviewed journal articles on children’s sleep. She has received over £2.5 million in research funding to study children’s sleep disorders. As a Consultant at Southampton Children’s hospital and certified European Somnologist she supports a busy quaternary clinical sleep service. She is co-Chair of the British Paediatric Sleep Society and also co-chairs the International Paediatric Sleep Association Taskforce for Sleep Friendly Hospitals..
Dr Ness Hewertson is a Consultant in Paediatric Sleep Medicine at Southampton Children’s Hospital. She is a certified European Somnologist and has completed a postgraduate diploma in sleep medicine with distinction at Oxford University. She is a member of the British Paediatric Sleep Society Committee, and she has worked collaboratively with other paediatric sleep medicine consultants to create an RCPCH accredited specialist interest training module in paediatric sleep medicine. She regularly delivers teaching on the Southampton Sleep Training course and delivers training to postgraduate paediatric trainees.
Dr Andrea Whitney is a paediatric consultant neurologist with extensive teaching experience including international delivery of British Paediatric Neurology Association Epilepsy training courses in the UK and internationally.
Dr Rachel Langley is a clinical psychologist with the Southampton Children’s Sleep Disorders Service. Her background is in child and adolescent mental health, and she's worked in the children’s sleep disorder service for 15 years. Her clinical doctorate focused on sleep in children with ADHD. Her main interests are anxiety around sleep and working with children with complex and chronic medical problems. She delivers training as part of the Southampton Sleep Training courses and within the University of Southampton clinical psychology doctoral training course.
Dr Sarah Matthews is a clinical psychologist within the Southampton Children’s Sleep disorders service. Her background is in paediatric psychology, and she's worked in the children’s sleep disorder service for over 10 years. Her main interests are anxiety around sleep and working with children with functional symptoms. She delivers training as part of the Southampton Sleep Training modules.
Joanne McCubbin is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Paediatric Sleep Medicine and nurse lead for children with rare disorders of hypersomnolence. Jo offers educational support to children, young people, their parents, and family members, to help them learn to manage their condition. She also works with their schools to provide education around the condition and put in place an education and healthcare plan to make sure the child or young person has the best environment and conditions to help them to learn and achieve
Karen Farrance is a Senior Specialist Paediatric Sleep Practitioner and the Southampton Sleep Training Coordinator. With a strong background in Health Visiting as a Community Nursery Nurse, Karen brings a wealth of experience to her role, supporting families and children with chronic insomnia. As one of four specialist sleep practitioners on her team, Karen creates individualized sleep management programmes and provides one-to-one support for children and their families. Her compassionate approach and evidence-based strategies have a profound impact on improving sleep health and well-being. In addition to her clinical work, Karen plays a key role in education and training. She delivers teaching on the Southampton Sleep Training Course and the Student Selected Unit. She also oversees the organization and management of the Southampton Sleep Training Programme, ensuring its success and continued growth.​
Karen Curtain is a Specialist Paediatric Sleep Practitioner. Background in special needs education and behaviour management Karen is experienced in delivering training to parents and professionals.
​Ani Marshall qualified as a Paediatric Nurse in 2000 and joined the team in 2019 as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Paediatric Sleep Medicine. She is currently the lead nurse for children with sleep related rhythmic movement disorders. She works with families to understand the condition and identify appropriate treatment plans. Working closely with her colleague Joanne, her fellow Clinical Nurse Specialist, she supports the hypersomnolence caseload, which includes neurological sleep disorders such as narcolepsy and Kleine-Levin Syndrome. This support includes family and school teaching following diagnosis. Ani holds monthly nurse led clinics to assess children with a wide variety of neurological sleep disorders including parasomnias, chronic insomnias, and movement related disorders. She regularly delivers teaching on the Southampton Sleep Training Course
Victoria Willmer is a Specialist Paediatric Sleep Practitioner who joined the team in September 2022. With over 25 years of experience supporting children and families, Victoria brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise from her role as a Community Nursery Nurse within Health Visiting teams. Throughout her career, Victoria has played a key role in delivering the Healthy Child Programme, working collaboratively with partner agencies and multidisciplinary teams to support the 0-19 Children’s Service. Her extensive background has equipped her with a broad range of transferable skills, enabling her to make a significant impact in her current role. As one of four Specialist Paediatric Sleep Practitioners, Victoria is dedicated to helping children and families manage chronic insomnia, providing evidence-based guidance and compassionate support. Her commitment to improving sleep health reflects her passion for enhancing the well-being of children and their families.
​Hannah Fowler is a Specialist Paediatric Sleep Practitioner with a wealth of experience supporting children and families in various roles. Her professional background includes working within the NHS as a Nursery Nurse in the Neonatal Unit, where she provided compassionate care to infants and their families. She has also supported children with communication needs as a Speech and Language Assistant and has valuable experience as a Nanny, offering personalised care and nurturing environments to children in their early years.
In addition to her role as a Sleep Practitioner, Hannah works on the Paediatric High Dependency Unit as a Play Leader, where she focuses on supporting children through therapeutic play during their hospital stay.
Hannah is one of four dedicated sleep practitioners on her team, specialising in assisting families dealing with chronic insomnia. She implements evidence-based behavioural programmes to help improve sleep habits and overall well-being.

Quest Speakers

Professor Samuele Cortese is currently NIHR Research Professor, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Southampton, Honorary Consultant for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, UK and full professor of child neuropsychiatry at the university of Bari, Italy. Prof. Cortese’s main research interests are around neurodevelopmental disorders. He has published more than 400 peer-review papers. He has secured funding as main/co-applicant for more than £ 15 M. In 2022, he was included in the top 1%  scientists in the field of psychiatry/psychology (Web of Science). Since 2022, he ranked  #1 worldwide in terms of expertise on ADHD (Expertscape). He is the Chair of the European ADHD Guidelines Group
Dr Georgie Agar is a Lecturer at Aston University. Georgie leads the SHINE Lab, a research group focused on understanding Sleep and Health in Intellectual disability and Neurodevelopment. Georgie's work combines actigraphy, behavioural assessments and fine-grained observational techniques to understand sleep difficulties in individuals with intellectual disability and rare genetic syndromes. 
Professor Carmen Schroder is  a Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Strasbourg University, Head of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Strasbourg University Hospital, Head of the Excellence Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, President of the European Union of Medical Specialists - Child and Adolescent, Board Member of the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Executive Committee, International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and European Board Certified Sleep Expert; national coordination, French sleep diploma, French Society for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine 
Professor Caroline Richards, Professor of Neurodevelopmental Conditions, is a Clinical Psychologist and researcher at the University of Birmingham.  Her research focuses on reducing negative clinical outcomes for children. Caroline leads a programme of sleep and behaviour research at the Cerebra Network for Neurodevelopmental Disorders. This research will help us to understanding why sleep problems occur in children with intellectual disability, autism and rare genetic syndromes, and help families to find solutions to these sleep difficulties.
Dr Sue McCabe is an occupational therapist in Perth, Western Australia. Her clinical work has focussed on sleep support for people of all ages with developmental, neuro-motor, mental health and chronic health conditions, in their home settings. Her PhD research was around the diverse factors of concern in sleep of children with cerebral palsy, with a focus on their thermoregulation during sleep. Sue’s current work centres on knowledge sharing with allied health colleagues, to promote a collaborative team approach for best practice to support sleep of children with complex conditions and their families.
Dr Julie Duncan is a Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Southampton Children’s Hospital. She completed a respiratory sleep training fellowship in London and oversees the sleep disordered breathing and long term ventilation regional services in Southampton. She is a member of the British Paediatric Sleep Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society guideline panel for the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnoea. She is completing the European Respiratory Society Respiratory Sleep Training Programme.
​Dr Hazel Evans is a Paediatric Respiratory Consultant with a particular interest in the investigation and management of children with sleep disordered breathing. She leads the regional long term ventilation service. Her research interests encompass the field of sleep disordered breathing with a current focus on respiratory patterns during healthy preterm infant sleep and any potential impacts on neurodevelopmental outcome. She has a number of publications in relation to paediatric sleep and ventilation and co-chaired the British Thoracic Society guidelines on sleep diagnostics in children. She has contributed to the latest NICE review on home testing devices for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnoea. She is regularly invited to talk at national meetings.