David Kuhlmann, MD, joined the AASM Foundation Board of Directors in 2021. Kuhlmann received his medical degree from the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas. He completed a residency in Neurology at the University of Indiana in Indianapolis. Kuhlmann is board certified by the American Board of Sleep Medicine. He has been at Bothwell Regional Health Center in Sedalia, Missouri for 15 years and previously served as a board member for the hospital.
Could you discuss why you think the AASM Foundation’s clinical research grants and training programs are important to the field of sleep medicine?
Sleep Medicine has only been around as a clinical field for about 50 years. Because the field is so new, many questions remain about how sleep can impact a person’s overall health and performance. There is a tremendous need for people with passion and experience in sleeping disorders to have the resources available to pursue their clinical interests. With the help of the AASM Foundation, the next generation of sleep researchers should be able to make significant contributions to our knowledge of sleep and its disorders.
Why do you believe AASM members should support the AASM Foundation?
Anyone who has been involved in high quality research understands the tremendous time commitment required to design, perform, and write up a research study. It is important for AASM members to support the AASM Foundation so that the foundation can in turn support sleep researchers who are working to add valuable knowledge to our field.
Physicians have had to overcome many challenges over the past couple of years, what excites you about the future of sleep medicine?
Sleep is increasingly being recognized by both the medical community and general population as integral to our overall health. The challenge that I am most excited about is incorporating the treatment of sleep and its disorders into the management of sleep-associated health problems including heart disease, diabetes, and dementia so that patients can live longer, healthier lives.
How did you become interested in sleep medicine?
I read the Promise of Sleep by Dr. William Dement when I was in medical school. The book taught me how pervasive and under-recognized sleep disorders were. I was immediately hooked.
