WESTCHESTER, Ill.Paul A. Fredrickson, MD, was recently named one of two recipients of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s (AASM) Mark O. Hatfield Award for 2007.


“Dr. Fredrickson is being lauded for his efforts to establish public policy with regards to sleepy drivers. He was instrumental in spearheading the sleepy driver initiative in order to educate drivers about the dangers of getting behind the wheel while fatigued and to protect the safety of other drivers and pedestrians sharing the road,” said Alejandro D. Chediak, MD, new AASM president. “I congratulate Dr. Fredrickson on his selection for the Hatfield Award, and look forward to presenting him with this well-deserved honor.”


Dr. Fredrickson will be presented with the award at SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), to take place from June 11-14 in Minneapolis, Minn.


Paul A. Fredrickson, MD, chairs the departments of psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., where he is also an associate professor of psychiatry, co-director of the sleep disorders center and director of the nicotine dependence center. An AASM past president, Dr. Fredrickson has held membership on a number of committees and represented the AASM in the American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates.


He received a medical degree from the University of Minnesota, and completed a residency in psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.


Dr. Fredrickson and his colleague, Andrew O. Jamieson, MD, clinical director of the Sleep Medicine Institute at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, Texas, a clinical associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and the other recipient of the Hatfield Award, spearheaded the sleepy driver initiative, which was introduced as a resolution that mandated a study by the AMA’s council on scientific affairs, and lead to publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association.


The Mark O. Hatfield Public Policy Award, established in 1996, acknowledges an individual who has developed public policy that positively affects the healthy sleep of all Americans. This contribution is unique, yet vital, to the advancement of the field. Retired United States Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.) has continually supported sleep medicine initiatives and policy. His work on behalf of the field has been instrumental in increasing NIH funding for sleep, increasing public awareness of sudden infant death syndrome, establishing the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, and supporting the nationally recognized sleep disorders research at the Oregon Health Science University. Senator Hatfield also chaired the transportation appropriations subcommittee, and in that capacity he introduced the driver fatigue initiative, which passed in 1995.


SLEEP 2007 is a four-day scientific meeting that will feature an international body of over 5,000 leading researchers and clinicians in the field of sleep medicine.


More than 1,000 research abstracts will be presented at SLEEP 2007, a joint venture of the AASM and the Sleep Research Society. SLEEP 2007 will bring to light new findings that enhance the understanding of the processes of sleep and aid the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.


AASM is a professional membership organization dedicated to the advancement of sleep medicine and sleep-related research.


CONTACT: Jim Arcuri

(708)492-0930, ext. 9317

jarcuri@aasm.org


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