FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: AASM Director of Communications Kathleen McCann
630-737-9700
 
DARIEN, IL – The American Academy of Sleep Medicine presented the 2010 Nathaniel Kleitman Distinguished Service Award to Mayo Clinic professor Michael H. Silber, MBChB, June 7, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS).
 
Silber is a past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) who served on the board of directors from 2003 to 2009. During his term as president the AASM established the AASM Comprehensive Academic Sleep Programs of Distinction and steered the transition of the certification examination for sleep medicine from the American Board of Sleep Medicine to the American Board of Medical Specialties. Currently Silber is a deputy editor for the journal SLEEP and a member of the editorial board for the AASM’s Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
 
“Dr. Silber is a consummate professional and a respected leader in the sleep field,” said AASM President Patrick J. Strollo Jr., MD. “As the chair of numerous AASM committees and task forces, and most recently as AASM president, he has helped the AASM set clinical standards for the field of sleep medicine and promote excellence in the provision of sleep-related medical care.”
 
At the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Silber is a professor of neurology in the College of Medicine and co-director of the Mayo Center for Sleep Medicine. He also is associate dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs at the Mayo School of Health Sciences.
 
Silber earned a medical degree from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He trained in internal medicine and neurology at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town and completed a fellowship in neurology at the Mayo Clinic. He became an AASM member in 1991 and earned board certification in sleep medicine in 1993.
 
Established in 1981, the Nathaniel Kleitman Distinguished Service Award honors individuals dedicated to the sleep field who have made significant contributions in the areas of administration, public relations and government affairs. Kleitman was a sleep scientist whose research in areas such as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, circadian rhythms and the effect of drugs on sleep helped establish the foundation for modern sleep medicine.
 
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine is a professional membership society that is the leader in setting standards and promoting excellence in sleep medicine health care, education and research. Across the U.S. more than 2,000 AASM-accredited sleep disorders centers and laboratories for sleep-related breathing disorders provide the highest quality of medical care for patients with sleep disorders.
 
A joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, SLEEP 2010 brought together an international body of more than 5,000 sleep medicine specialists, sleep researchers, sleep technologists, allied health professionals and other health care professionals.
 
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