AASM President Dr. Patrick Strollo

Dr. Patrick J. Strollo Jr., the 2010-2011 President of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) is an associate professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care. A leading sleep medicine clinician and researcher, Dr. Strollo holds a number of leadership positions at the university. He is the Co-Director of the University of Pittsburgh Sleep Medicine Institute and Medical Director of the UPMC Sleep Medicine Center. In addition he is the Director of the Office of Clinical Research for the Schools of Allied Health at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Strollo received his MD from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 1981 and trained at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. He is certified in Sleep Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care Medicine, and Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

He has been an active member of the AASM since 1987. He was elected to the AASM Board of Directors in 2005. Dr. Strollo also served as the Director of the National Sleep Medicine Course, as a member of the Standards of Practice and Education committees, and as Chair of the Sleep Medicine Courses Committee.

He was a member of the Steering Committee of the AASM/ACCP/ATS Taskforce for Home Diagnosis of Sleep Apnea and the recent International Workshop on Research Priorities in Ambulatory Management of Patients with Sleep Apnea. He is the AASM representative for the AMA Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement and the Chairman of the Consortium Workgroup for Adult OSA Performance Measures.
Outside of the AASM, Dr. Strollo is on the Executive Committee of the American Thoracic Society Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology Assembly, and a member of the Sleep Research Society, the American College of Physicians and the American College of Chest Physicians. He is also seated on the American Board of Internal Medicine Pulmonary Disease Board of Directors and the National Football League Cardiovascular Health Committee.

Dr. Strollo’s clinical work focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and long term management of Sleep Apnea and Respiratory Care of patients with neuromuscular disease. Currently he is investigating Disease Management and the Interactions between Intermittent Hypoxia, Sleep, Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease. The research is funded by the DOD, NHLBI and PA Tobacco Settlement.

Past research has examined the utility of portable monitoring for the diagnosis of sleep apnea, treatment of sleep apnea with new modalities of positive pressure and the impact of sleep apnea on cardiovascular risk.
Having authored numerous scientific studies, Dr. Strollo plans to expand the professional resources and support the AASM provides for sleep researchers. Funding for sleep-related research is scare at this time. He intends to reach out to legislators and federal agencies to advocate for increased support.

With the passage of national health care reform legislation, adapting to the changes in the landscape of clinical medicine is a top priority. Under Dr. Strollo the AASM will work closely with the Presidential Task Force on the Future of Sleep Medicine and the Practice Development and Advisory Council to understand and address these changes.

As the AASM moves forward, Dr. Strollo is in favor of using patient registries to further clinical care. Patient registries would allow the sleep medicine community to better treat chronic and co-morbid disorders and by tracking the outcome of treatment decisions. Such longitudinal records would lead to unprecedented opportunities for researchers and would provide data to assist payers in making coverage decisions. Dr. Strollo believes patient registries will provide a basis for evaluating competencies in the certification process.

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AASM President Dr. Patrick Strollo