The AASM Foundation is committed to expanding the field of sleep medicine with highly qualified researchers and clinicians, which also aligns with the strategic goal of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to expand the sleep team workforce of the future to improve access to high-quality sleep care. To ensure that there is a healthy pipeline of board-certified sleep medicine physicians that can provide quality care for all patients who have a sleep or circadian disorder, the AASM Foundation established the Sleep Medicine Fellow Funding Award, which provides funds to start or maintain a sleep medicine fellowship position in an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited program. The goal of this award is to provide funds for a one-year sleep medicine fellowship position.

The AASM Foundation recently awarded funds to support 3 sleep medicine fellowship positions at Duke University, Indiana University and University of Florida. We congratulate these sleep medicine fellowship programs as recipients of the 2020 Sleep Medicine Fellow Funding Award and for their commitment to expand the pipeline of well-trained sleep medicine physicians.

Duke University Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program Fellows and Staff

Duke University Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program

Program Director: Andrew Spector, MD

The Duke University Sleep Medicine fellowship is a one-year clinical program that splits training between Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center. While formally located in the Department of Neurology, the program includes faculty in psychiatry, pediatrics, internal medicine/pulmonary, otolaryngology, psychology, and dentistry. Its 14-bed sleep lab and tertiary referral clinics provide exposure to the complete array of sleep disorders. This program aims to recruit diverse fellows with a passion for sleep medicine. Dr. Andrew Spector is the program director and associate professor of neurology at Duke University.

“The Sleep Medicine Fellow Funding Award will ensure that we are able to continue offering two fellowship positions per year. Our program was at risk of losing funding for one of our positions, and the AASM Foundation has provided timely relief that will give us the chance to secure additional funds for future fellows,” said Spector, “The AASM Foundation support will ensure the training pipeline remains intact and no fellowship positions are lost due to interruptions in funding.”

Indiana University Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program Fellows and Staff

Indiana University Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program

Program Director: Stephanie M. Stahl, MD

The Indiana University School of Medicine Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program began in 2009. The program’s past fellows and faculty are diverse and multidisciplinary, including sleep experts in the fields of pulmonary and critical care medicine, neurology, internal medicine, pediatric pulmonary medicine, pediatric neurology, psychology, otolaryngology, and dental sleep medicine. The educational experience includes collaborations with various hospital systems, allowing understanding of different patient populations. Dr. Stephanie Stahl is the program director and an assistant professor of clinical neurology and clinical medicine at Indiana University.

“Our fellowship program is ACGME-accredited for two fellows; however, we typically only have funding to support one fellow. We have been diligently working on permanent funding for the second position, and this award has markedly ignited interest from the hospital systems we work with and our GME to obtain this goal,” said Stahl, “As the only sleep medicine fellowship program in Indiana, we hope to increase the number of high quality sleep medicine physicians in the state through this AASM Foundation award.”

Univesity of Florida Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program Fellows and Staff

University of Florida Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program

Program Director: Richard B. Berry, MD

The University of Florida (UF) sleep fellowship is a one-year multidisciplinary program within the Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Division and accepts applications from all eligible disciplines. The program trains 2 sleep medicine fellows each year. Core training occurs at two sites: the UF Health Sleep Center, which include weekly pediatric clinics, and the Malcom Randall VAMC with fellows spending 50% time at each site. Since 2008, 24 board-certified sleep medicine physicians have been trained. Dr. Richard Berry is the program director and professor of medicine at the University of Florida.

“We are grateful to the AASM Foundation for providing support for a 0.5 fellowship position supplementing current funding for 1.5 positions (1 VA, 0.5 UF), thus allowing training of 2 fellows yearly,” said Berry, “This funding will enhance training in pediatric sleep medicine, enable exposure to a wider spectrum of adult patients, and provide balanced training in the delivery of care in both the VA and University health care systems.”