Sleep Update 2026 – Dr. Christopher Skinner

When: Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 7:00 PM

Where: Blackburn Community Hall, 190 Glen Park Drive

By popular demand, Dr. Christopher Skinner will be returning to Discovery Café, this time to tackle the vitally important topic of sleep. During the session, Dr. Skinner will:

• review the different types of sleep disorders and how these affect daily life;
• review strategies to recognize and diagnose various sleep disorders;
• review treatments—both pharmacological and non-pharmacological—to treat sleep disorders; and
• discuss what can be done to improve your sleep and that of your bed partner.

Dr. Skinner received his B.Eng (Electrical) from the Royal Military College in 1970. He worked as a CELE
officer in Moosonee and then at NDHQ between 1970 to 1975. He received his medical degree from Queen’s in 1979 and then served as a Flight Surgeon at CFB North Bay and then as the Base Surgeon at CFB Ottawa. He received his specialist certification in General Internal Medicine in 1986 in Neurology in 1987 and qualified as a Diplomat of the American Board of Sleep Medicine in 2005.

In 2011, Dr. Skinner completed a three-month sabbatical with the Institute of Medical and Biological
Problems of the Russian Space Agency in Moscow studying the neurological and sleep related
complications of long duration space flight.
He has co-authored two editions of a textbook of neurology entitled “The Integrated Nervous System” with Dr Walter Hendelman and Dr. Peter Humphreys which includes an interactive web site
“integratednervoussystem.com”.

He is currently a member of the Aviation Medical Review Board at Transport Canada and is a consultant
for the Department of National Defence in Aerospace Medicine.

He has taught clinical neurology, aviation medicine, and sleep medicine at all levels including medical
students, residents, physician assistants and military Flight Surgeons, and continues to teach Neurology,
Psychiatry and Neuropathology to medical students and residents at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of
Medicine.

Admission is free, refreshments will be served and people of all ages are invited to attend.

Questions & Suggestions? Please email barbara@blackburnhamlet.ca.