The 2023 Sleep Champion Award opens for nominations on January 3rd! Created in 2019, this award celebrates successful community-based sleep health services and education provided by non-profit organizations. To best highlight a holistic array of nonprofits throughout the years, AASM members are encouraged to nominate organizations that provide best-in-class care and/or education in the sleep community.
The nonprofit organization selected for the Sleep Champion Award will receive $5,000 in unrestricted funds, in addition to complimentary registration for a representative to attend SLEEP 2023 in Indianapolis and accept the award in person at a special event. The chosen organization will also receive up to $5,000 in reimbursement of travel expenses to attend SLEEP 2023 as well as other meetings and events for educational and networking purposes.
In 2022, the Sleep Champion Award was awarded to the Hypersomnia Foundation. The Hypersomnia Foundation is committed to improving the lives of people living with idiopathic hypersomnia and related sleep disorders by raising awareness, providing reliable resources and education. “I have served for several years on the Foundation’s Medical Advisory Board and can personally attest to the incredible work this organization is doing for the field of sleep medicine and patients with idiopathic hypersomnia,” said nominating AASM member David T. Plante, MD, PhD about the Hypersomnia Foundation.
The 2021 Sleep Champion Award was awarded to Start School Later, a coalition of health professionals, sleep scientists, educators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens dedicated to increasing public awareness about the relationship between sleep and school hours and to ensuring school start times take into account the health, safety, education, and equity of students. “Coalitions like Start School Later play a vital role in raising awareness about the growing body of evidence that later school start times enhance teen safety, performance and overall well-being,” said AASM Foundation President Dr. Anita Shelgikar.
We cannot emphasize enough the importance of the work conducted by previous Sleep Champion Award-winning organizations, and how passionate we are in continuing the legacy of this award. The Sleep Champion Award was created to celebrate and boost the efforts of sleep organizations, but it isn’t possible to achieve this goal without the help of AASM members. We encourage you to nominate a nonprofit organization to be considered for our 2023 Sleep Champion Award.
The due date for nominations is on February 6th, 2023 by 11:59 ET, and a recipient will be chosen and notified by April 28th, 2023. For more information regarding the Sleep Champion Award and how to nominate organizations, follow this link: https://foundation.aasm.org/champion/
