The American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation is pleased to announce four recipients of the 2024 AMA Foundation Physicians of Tomorrow scholarships that were funded by our multi-year investment in the AMA Foundation.
The following individuals have demonstrated a significant passion for sleep medicine, and we are excited to see what the future holds as they continue their training.
Alexander Batterman
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Alexander believes that access to an adequate sleep environment is something that should be available to everyone, regardless of income or circumstance. Promoting sleep equity in healthcare is paramount – He has spent much of his academic career describing how impaired sleep bleeds into other medical conditions. Firstly, he plans on building a therapeutic alliance and developing holistic, individualized sleep plans with his own patients that considers factors such as income and environment. Even an intervention as minor as sleep masks could be helpful. Further, Alexander plans to use his platform as a physician to advocate for sleep equity in prisons and beyond as well as to engage the public and other healthcare professionals through books, poetry, and informational packets so that they can take ownership of their sleep, lives, and overall well-being.
Samantha Shave
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Samantha’s long-term vision includes contributing to research, implementing community outreach programs to raise awareness about the importance of sleep hygiene, and fostering collaboration between different medical disciplines to improve patient care. She is genuinely passionate about making a positive impact in the field of sleep medicine and is eager to continue her journey as a medical student dedicated to understanding, diagnosing, and treating sleep disorders.
Peter Zaki
Drexel University College of Medicine
As Peter embarks on this journey toward sleep medicine through neurology or psychiatry, his primary career goal is to contribute significantly to the understanding and treatment of neurological and mental health disorders while specializing in sleep-related conditions He reports being captivated by sleep and its cycles. He hopes to shed some light on mechanisms of REM sleep and how REM sleep affects memory in cases of depression, alcoholism and more. Sleep medicine provides a unique avenue to explore the vital role that sleep plays in maintaining both neurological, mental health and overall wellbeing.
Benjamin Wipper
Harvard Medical School
Looking forward, Benjamin aspires to eventually assume a position in academic medicine and expects there to be ample opportunities within that space to address social determinants of health and promote health equity in his community and beyond. There are a multitude of disparities within sleep medicine, the field that he hopes to enter, that must be addressed. For example, racial and ethnic minorities as well as those of low socioeconomic status have been shown to have disproportionally high rates of various sleep disorders. Benjamin is determined to address such disparities on the individual level as a clinician, through providing care for patients from a wide range of backgrounds and helping them achieve their best possible health despite the obstacles that they face.
