DARIEN, IL – Several leaders in the field of sleep medicine and a national transportation executive were selected as recipients of the 2017 American Academy of Sleep Medicine awards, which will be presented Monday, June 5, during the plenary session of SLEEP 2017, the 31st annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS) in Boston.

“I congratulate each of the 2017 award recipients, whose dedication and commitment to excellence have made a significant impact on the field of sleep medicine in the areas of administration, academic research, public policy and education,” said AASM President Dr. Ronald D. Chervin. “Their contributions to the sleep field have supported the mission of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to improve sleep health and promote high quality, patient-centered care.”

The 2017 AASM award recipients, who were selected by the AASM board of directors, are:

David F. Dinges, PhD
Nathaniel Kleitman Distinguished Service Award for dedication to the sleep field and significant contributions in the areas of administration, public relations and government affairs
Dr. Dinges is a tenured professor of psychology in psychiatry, and he serves as chief of the Division of Sleep and Chronobiology and vice chair for faculty affairs and professional development in the Department of Psychiatry at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia. His laboratory has produced an extensive body of federally funded research on the acute, chronic and cumulative adverse effects of inadequate sleep on human physiological and neurobehavioral functions.

Susan Redline, MD, MPH
William C. Dement Academic Achievement Award for exceptional initiative and progress in the areas of sleep education and academic research
Dr. Redline is the Peter C. Farrell Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and directs a Program in Sleep Medicine Epidemiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Her research focuses on understanding the risk factors and outcomes of sleep disorders across populations, the role of sleep interventions in improving health, and use of web-based resources to enable exchange and analysis of sleep data.

Anne Ferro
Mark O. Hatfield Public Policy or Advocacy Award for developing public policy that positively affects the healthy sleep of all Americans
Anne Ferro was named president and CEO of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) in 2014 after serving five years as administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Under her leadership, FMCSA implemented key measures, such as limiting the risk of tired truck drivers behind the wheel and prohibiting commercial drivers from texting or talking on hand-held mobile devices while driving.

Michael H. Silber, MBChB, FAASM
Excellence in Education Award for outstanding contributions in the teaching of sleep medicine
Dr. Silber is professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, dean of the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences, and a past co-director of the Mayo Center for Sleep Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. He served as program director of the Mayo Fellowship in Sleep Medicine for 14 years, educating 60 fellows. Dr. Silber has served as president of the AASM, president of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and chair of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Directors Council.

More information about the 2017 AASM awards is available online.

Photos are available upon request. For more information, please contact Communications Coordinator Corinne Lederhouse at 630-737-9700, ext. 9366, clederhouse@aasm.org.

About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Established in 1975, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) improves sleep health and promotes high quality, patient-centered care through advocacy, education, strategic research, and practice standards. The AASM has a combined membership of 10,000 accredited member sleep centers and individual members, including physicians, scientists and other health care professionals.