Colin Espie

Biography

Colin Espie was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School (leaving in 1974), and subsequently completed a BSc (Psychology, 1978) and an MAppSci (Clinical Psychology, 1980) at the University of Glasgow. In 1980 he commenced practice in NHS Lanarkshire's mental health services, where he first encountered insomnia as a common complaint. This led to his PhD (1987) in sleep disorders and his career-long interest in the assessment and management of Insomnia Disorder. Espie has held many senior clinical and academic positions, including as a Clinical Director in NHS Ayrshire & Arran (1988-1995) and Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Glasgow (1995-2012) where he also founded the UoG Sleep Centre. Whilst in Glasgow he developed the research portfolio model for the Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) that became adopted by clinical training courses across the UK. Espie joined the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford in 2013, the year in which he was also awarded a DSc in respect of his contributions to sleep science and practice. His work at Oxford has established a lasting legacy of sleep research and sleep medicine training. He was the Founding Director of the 'Better Sleep' programme in the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre. He has held adjunct or visiting professorial appointments at the University of Sydney, University of Rome (la Sapienza), Universite Laval (Quebec City) and University of Rochester (NY).