Professor Josephine Arendt

Josephine Arendt received her BSc and PhD from London University. She then spent 12 years at the University of Geneva where she developed the first practical method of measuring melatonin- the best ‘marker rhythm’ of the timing of the human internal clock.

She pursued her interests in human and animal biological rhythms on returning to the UK, University of Surrey (1977), with pioneering studies on the ability of melatonin to shift the timing of the seasonal cycle in sheep and the circadian system in humans. She has a particular interest in the more applied aspects of biological rhythms: jet lag, shift work, the non-24h sleep disorder of the blind – and the problems of living in the extreme environment of Antarctica.

She has been Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Surrey since 1990 (now Emeritus) and Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. By creating teaching modules in Neuroendocrinology and in Biological Rhythms at Surrey, Dr Arendt was able to introduce successive generations of students to these expanding subjects. With Professor Russell Foster of Imperial College London she jointly founded the Centre for Chronobiology, Unis-IC, in 1999.

Dr Arendt has been an editorial board member of the Journal of Pineal Research and the Journal of Reproduction and Fertility. She currently serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Biological Rhythms and on the editorial boards of Chronobiology International, Biological Rhythms Research and Sleep Research Online.

Dr Arendt was President of The European Pineal Society (1987 - 1990), now the European Biological Rhythms Society and is Life Member of Council. She was President, Gordon Research Conference on Pineal Cell Biology, 1998-2000, and was Vice President (Europe), The Melatonin Club (now defunct) and Honorary foreign associate of The French Endocrine Society. She has received a number of medals including the Ernst and Berta Scharrer Award, 2005, for outstanding achievements in Neuroendocrinology. Most recently she has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Lodz. She also serves on a number of committees external to the University of Surrey.