Wikipedia User:Amansriv1/Debra J Skene

Dr. Skene's scientific interests are understanding mammalian circadian rhythm and the consequences of disturbing the circadian system. She is also interested in finding their potential treatments for people who suffer from disrupted circadian rhythm. Dr. Skene and her team of researchers tackle these questions using animal models, clinical trials, and most recently, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Most notably, Dr. Skene is credited for her evidence of a novel photopigment, later discovered to be melanopsin.

Early Life
Dr. Skene received her Bachelor of Pharmacy, Master of Science, and Ph.D. in South Africa.

Faculty Positions
Dr. Skene is a professor of chronobiology at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Dr. Skene has been conducting research in the field of chronobiology for over 25 years and has published over 150 papers.

Awards and Nominations
Currently, Dr. Skene is a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award Holder.

Effects of Short Wavelength Light
In 2001, Dr. Skene published a paper demonstrating the presence of a novel photopigment, outside of the traditional rods and cones, sensitive to short-wavelength light causing melatonin suppression. Later, it was found that this novel photopigment, melanopsin, plays an important role in non-visual responses to light within the human body and is present in a distinct class of photoreceptor cells called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs). Dr. Skene's subsequent research has demonstrated that phase advances in circadian melatonin secretion occurs when short wavelength light is presented at very low intensities, with similar phase advances being observed for white light presented at 185x greater intensity, indicating a special sensitivity of the human circadian system to short wavelength light. Further, her team has found that this suppression of melatonin by short wavelength light is less effective in older, postmenopausal women when compared to younger, premenopausal women. Overall Skene's findings with regards to the effect of short wavelength light on circadian rhythms has played a role in prompting further research in the optimal use of light as a therapeutic agent in sleep related and circadian disorders.

Potentials of Melatonin in Detecting and Treating Circadian Associated Disorders
In late 1980s, Dr. Skene and her team tracked the parameters of melatonin secretion pattern in the pineal gland of Syrian hamsters under different photoperiod. Since then, Dr. Skene and her team embarked on a journey to try to use melatonin to alleviate symptoms of disrupted circadian clock experienced in jetlag, night shifts, and blindness. A little over a decade later, her team discovered that administering melatonin can entrain the circadian clock that are normally free-running in blind people. This discovery led to increased attention to study and use melatonin secretion as a circadian indicator, as well as to test various factors' effects on melatonin secretion pattern, such as the wavelength of light and social influences.

Therapeutic Potentials of Light Therapy in Treating Circadian and Related Disorders
People who work night shifts often suffer from fatigue. Dr. Skene and her team has sought to improve the cognitive and metabolic symptoms night shifts workers suffer from due to their disrupted circadian rhythm. Recently, Skene's team found that blue-enriched white light improved performance in stimulated night shift conditions. The team also tested whether exercise could help stabilize non-behavioral indicator of circadian rhythm, but found that low-intensity exercise before starting night-shift did not affect glucose tolerance.

Current Research
Dr. Skene's current research interests are two-fold. One area is understanding how circadian clocks, sleep, and metabolism relate to each other within people with dysfunctional circadian rhythms, such as shift workers, and those with metabolic disorders, like liver disease or Type 2 diabetes. The other is using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics to explore how various factors such as sleep, food, time of day, and circadian rhythms impact the human metabolome.

Selected Publications
Arendt, Josephine, and Debra Jean Skene. “Melatonin as a Chronobiotic.” Sleep Medicine Reviews, vol. 9, no. 1, Feb. 2005, pp. 25–39., doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2004.05.002.

Arendt, Josephine, et al. “Efficacy of Melatonin Treatment in Jet Lag, Shift Work, and Blindness.” Journal of Biological Rhythms, vol. 12, no. 6, 1 Dec. 1997, pp. 604–617., doi:10.1177/074873049701200616.

Hack, Lisa M., et al. “The Effects of Low-Dose 0.5-Mg Melatonin on the Free-Running Circadian Rhythms of Blind Subjects.” Journal of Biological Rhythms, vol. 18, no. 5, 1 Oct. 2003, pp. 420–429., doi:10.1177/0748730403256796.

Lockley, Steven W., et al. “Relationship between Melatonin Rhythms and Visual Loss in the Blind1.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 82, no. 11, 1 Nov. 1997, pp. 3763–3770., doi:10.1210/jcem.82.11.4355.

Lockley, SW, et al. “Melatonin Administration Can Entrain the Free-Running Circadian System of Blind Subjects.” Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 164, no. 1, 2000, doi:10.1677/joe.0.164r001.

Lucas, Robert J., et al. “Measuring and Using Light in the Melanopsin Age.” Trends in Neurosciences, vol. 37, no. 1, Jan. 2014, pp. 1–9., doi:10.1016/j.tins.2013.10.004.

Thapan, Kavita, et al. “An Action Spectrum for Melatonin Suppression: Evidence for a Novel Non‐Rod, Non‐Cone Photoreceptor System in Humans.” The Journal of Physiology, vol. 535, no. 1, 1 Aug. 2001, pp. 261–267., doi:10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.t01-1-00261.x.

Warman, Victoria L., et al. “Phase Advancing Human Circadian Rhythms with Short Wavelength Light.” Neuroscience Letters, vol. 342, no. 1-2, 15 May 2003, pp. 37–40., doi:10.1016/s0304-3940(03)00223-4.