Our largest program is the Strategic Research Grant which supports high-impact research projects aimed at addressing gaps in sleep medicine. This year, we are proud to award more than $2.5 million in funding for the following twelve projects. Congratulations to the recipients of our 2023 grant cycle.
M. Safwan Badr, MD, MBA
Wayne State University
Impact of Scoring Criteria on the Diagnosis of SDB in Women: Is there a Gender Disparity
ABOUT THE PROJECT
This project aims to determine whether using the AASM-recommended rule for hypopnea scoring, rather than the acceptable criteria, will enhance detection of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in women, and hence will reduce gender disparities in diagnoses. This is a critically significant issue that must be addressed with urgency given the known delay in the diagnosis of this condition in women. The AASM Foundation funding is critical for this understudied question. We anticipate that our findings will inform future definitive studies and provide a foundation for discussions with providers, healthcare systems, and payers to ensure that SDB is optimally diagnosed and treated in women.
Elizabeth Cayanan, PhD
The University of Sydney
A Novel Dietary Approach to Manage Symptoms of Narcolepsy and Idiopathic Hypersomnia
ABOUT THE PROJECT
We will learn whether a practical dietary intervention can be used to supplement current management strategies to enhance patient outcomes. Importantly, our qualitative analyses will give voice to patients with conditions of hypersomnolence to better understand their lived experience. As an early career researcher, the funding from the AASM Foundation will provide a platform to establish an independent line of research while allowing me to emerge as a leader in a richer diversity of behavioral interventions for sleep disorders.
Yves Dauvilliers, ZMD, PhD
University of Montpellier
A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Comparing the Efficacy and Tolerance of Solriamfetol in Patients Affected with Idiopathic Hypersomnia [co-funded by Hypersomnia Foundation]
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Through this project, we aim to harness the potential of high-dose solriamfetol, a medication already approved for narcolepsy, to address unmet medical needs in Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH). Evaluating its efficacy using various markers, we seek to advance IH treatment insights and patient well-being. The support of AASM Foundation and Hypersomnia Foundation enables our team to amplify our research impact as well as fostering our growth by encouraging innovation in the field of sleep research.
Nadia Gosselin, PhD
Centre de recherche du Centre Integre de Sante et de services sociaux du Nord De I’lle-de-Montreal
The Snooz Toolbox: Transforming Sleep Medicine through In-Depth Polysomnographic Analyses
ABOUT THE PROJECT
By closely working with sleep technologists and physicians to develop this new sleep analysis platform, our research team will learn to develop tools that specifically address clinical needs. Working as a multidisciplinary team will also facilitate the integration of computational and AI tools into sleep medicine practice. The support from the AASM allows for the objective to provide open-access and well-validated tools to accelerate sleep medicine discoveries.
Laura Lewis, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Imaging the Brainstem and Hypothalamic Activity Underlying Sleepiness-Induced Attentional Deficits in Humans
[co-funded by Wake up Narcolepsy]
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Broad scientific consensus has called for new biomarkers for hypersomnolence disorders, which are essential to improve their diagnosis and treatment. We aim to image activity in the brain circuits responsible for sleep-wake regulation and understand how it is linked to cognitive symptoms. This project uses a noninvasive imaging tool, enabling translation to human patients. The AASM Foundation and Wake Up Narcolepsy funding is enabling us to translate our novel MRI-based tools to understand the neural basis of hypersomnolence disorders.
Beth Malow, MD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Bringing Sleep Education for Children with Autism into Communities-a Dissemination and Implementation Project
ABOUT THE PROJECT
We hope to learn from this project how to disseminate, implement, and evaluate a therapist training program in children with autism whose families have limited access to healthcare. Our work will also be generalizable to children with a variety of other intellectual and developmental disabilities and more broadly to children of typical development. The AASM Foundation funding will support our career trajectory in advancing our experience in dissemination and implementation related to behavioral sleep education.
Jonna Morris, PhD, RN
University of Pittsburgh
A Formalized Patient-to-Patient Peer Support Program to Promote CPAP Adherence in Women
ABOUT THE PROJECT
This project seeks to learn if a formalized patient-to-patient peer support intervention personalized for women with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) will significantly help them to successfully begin and adhere to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. The AASM Foundation grant represents the next step in my research to understand and improve the treatment of women with OSA. This study will inform an NIH R01 trial to compare peer support to other modalities that promote CPAP adherence.
Jennifer Mundt, PhD
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for the Treatment of Nightmares in Narcolepsy: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
ABOUT THE PROJECT
This trial will help us understand whether Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) can improve nightmares, mood, and daytime functioning for individuals with narcolepsy. Funding from the AASM Foundation for this project comes at a critical point in my career as I am pivoting from a clinical role toward a greater focus on research. This funding will allow me to continue conducting sleep research and will improve the likelihood of success with future larger grant applications.
Sanjay Patel, MD, MS
University of Pittsburgh
Developing Evidence-Based Thresholds for Long-Term Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) Coverage
ABOUT THE PROJECT
I hope to better understand what symptoms improve in a diverse OSA population treated with CPAP and what dose is necessary to see improvements. Using this data, I will be able to test whether more liberal CPAP coverage policies will reduce disparities in OSA care. This funding support from the AASM Foundation will provide me the opportunity to shift my scientific focus and gain experience in research focused on reducing disparities in OSA care.
Paul Patterson, PhD
University of Pittsburgh
The Code 3 First Responder Sleep Health Program
ABOUT THE PROJECT
New information gained from this project includes: 1) identifying employer- and employee-reported barriers and facilitators to adopting evidence-based guidance, and 2) determining the impact of a novel employer-focused sleep health program on employee-reported fatigue and sleep quality. Support from the AASM Foundation will significantly expand our knowledge of fatigue and sleep health among public safety operations, enhance our capability to implement evidence-based guidance, and accelerate improvements in sleep health for safety sensitive operations.
Naresh Punjabi, MD
University of Miami
The Value of Different Scoring Criteria for Sleep-Disordered Breathing: An Outcomes-Based Approach
ABOUT THE PROJECT
For decades, it has been debated as to what is the most appropriate definition of hypopneas for diagnosing SBD. The overall goal of this project is to provide an evidence-based approach for defining hypopneas to guide case identification of those with sleep-disordered breathing. The AASM Foundation grant will facilitate my ability to excite regional and national investigators to collaborate in the building of the evidence that can better guide our field.
Ghada Bourjeily, MD
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Role of Maternal Nutrition and Stress on Sleep Health Disparities in Pregnancy
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The study will further our understanding of how stress and nutrition may impact sleep in pregnancy and how this relationship is different for women from different races who may have different societal or environmental exposures. The AASM funding will help us identify new targets for multi-pronged interventions to improve sleep in pregnancy, reduce maternal perinatal complications and improve the health of the mother and her family.
