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NDCProf Colin Espie — no licensed photograph is available, so the academic plate is shown instead.

Academic

Prof Colin Espie

Professor of Sleep Medicine, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford

Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford is based in Oxford East — the organisation’s base, not a personal address.

Press citations

1

Topic

1

Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Last quoted

Aug 2026

Prof Colin Espie: key facts

Kind of voice
Academic
Role
Professor of Sleep Medicine
Organisation
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford
Organisation based in
Oxford East
Quoted on
Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
Tracked press citations
1
Most recently quoted
27 Aug 2026

Who Prof Colin Espie is

Professor Colin Espie is Professor of Sleep Medicine in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford, where he founded the Experimental & Clinical Sleep Medicine research programme in the Sir Jules Thorn Sleep & Circadian Neurosciences Institute and serves as Clinical Director of the Oxford Online Programme in Sleep Medicine. He qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in 1980 and, before moving to Oxford in 2013, was founding Director of the University of Glasgow Sleep Centre from 1995 to 2012. His research expertise centres on the assessment and treatment of sleep disorders — particularly insomnia — using Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutics (CBTx), and on the relationships between sleep, mental health, and metabolic health. He co-founded the digital therapeutics company Big Health and its Sleepio programme, which in 2022 became the first-ever digital therapeutic to receive NICE guidance, confirming clinical and cost-effectiveness for insomnia treatment on the NHS. He has published over 350 scientific papers and served as campaign spokesperson for sleep in the NHS 'Every Mind Matters' public health campaign launched by Public Health England in 2020.

“What's more pressing is the continued lack of access to the first-line treatment for insomnia, CBT-I. Access to second-line options like daridorexant matters, but patients deserve the most evidence-based care – and in this condition, that means therapy, not tablets.”

References for this biography

  1. 1.Colin Espie — Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford — Current role, title, research programme, academic positions, publication count, Big Health co-founding, NHS Lanarkshire honorary position
  2. 2.Colin Espie — University of Oxford, Medical Sciences Division — Full list of roles, fellowship memberships, awards including Carskadon (2017) and Peter Hauri (2021), publications list
  3. 3.Sleepio is the first-ever digital therapeutic to receive NICE guidance — Big Health — Sleepio achieving NICE guidance (MTG70) in 2022; Espie's role as co-founder and Chief Scientist of Big Health
  4. 4.Mary A. Carskadon Outstanding Educator Award — Sleep Research Society — Confirms Espie as 2017 recipient of the Mary A. Carskadon Outstanding Educator Award
  5. 5.The '5 principles' of good sleep health — Journal of Sleep Research (2022) — Espie's role developing the NHS 'Every Mind Matters' sleep principles and serving as campaign spokesperson
  6. 6.About Me — Colin Espie personal website — Personal account of career history, WHO ICD-11 advisory role, World Sleep Society committee work, and professional society memberships
  7. 7.Prof. Dr. Colin Espie — European Sleep Research Society — Current title, institutional affiliation, editorial roles, and international fellowship memberships

Notable achievements

  • Co-founded Big Health and developed Sleepio, which in May 2022 became the first-ever digital therapeutic to receive NICE guidance (MTG70), confirmed as clinically effective and cost-saving for the NHS. Source ↗
  • Awarded the Mary A. Carskadon Outstanding Educator Award by the Sleep Research Society in 2017. Source ↗
  • Awarded the Peter Hauri Career Distinguished Achievement Award by the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine in 2021. Source ↗
  • Served as campaign spokesperson for sleep for the NHS 'Every Mind Matters' initiative launched by Public Health England in 2020, developing the '5 Principles of Good Sleep Health'. Source ↗
  • Founded the University of Glasgow Sleep Centre (1995–2012) and is Emeritus Professor in the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow. Source ↗

Where Prof Colin Espie has been quoted

  1. NHS access to promising sleeping pill daridorexant is patchy, say doctorstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

Contact & links

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.

Professors, researchers and think-tank analysts quoted on the strength of their research rather than a clinical role. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 5 Oct 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.